Clinical study on post evaluation after listing of Qizhi Weitong granules: Study protocol clinical trial (SPIRIT compliant)

Systematic Survey of the Alteration of the Faecal Microbiota in Rats With Gastrointestinal Disorder and Modulation by Multicomponent Drugs

Gastrointestinal disorder (GID) is a global health disease which leads to heavy public medical burden. Disorders in the intestinal flora have been found in gastrointestinal disorder patients. However, the interaction between GID and the intestinal flora in faecal has not been studied comprehensively. In addition, multicomponent drugs represented by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are widely used for treating GID, but their modulation of the intestinal flora has not been investigated. Therefore, in this study, a high-throughput sequencing strategy was used to investigate alterations in the intestinal flora in a rat GID model, followed by an investigation of the modulation by a representative TCM, Xiaoerfupi (XEFP) granule. The results showed that in rats with GID, the relative abundances of Erysipelotrichaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Streptococcaceae increased and that of Ruminococcaceae decreased. At the macro level, the levels of LysoPC(16:0), LysoPC(20:2), LysoPC(15:0), LysoPC(20:2 (11Z, 14Z)), LysoPC(20:1), LysoPC(15:0), LysoPC(20:0) and LysoPE (0:0/20:0) in serum increased and levels of PC(36:4), PC(38:4), PC(o-36;4), PE (MonoMe(13,5)/MonoMe(11,5)) decreased. The imbalance of metabolites was restored by XEFP through ether lipid metabolism pathway. Increase in the phyla Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio of the GID rats was restored by XEFP as well. Moreover, XEFP can relief the symptoms of GID rats by increasing bacteria Ruminococcaceae and decreasing Streptococcaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae and Lachnospiraceae in faecal microbiota level. This study represents a comprehensive survey of the interaction between GID and the intestinal flora and a systematic evaluation of modulation by a multicomponent drug.

A comprehensive review of integrative pharmacology-based investigation: A paradigm shift in traditional Chinese medicine

Over the past decade, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has widely embraced systems biology and its various data integration approaches to promote its modernization. Thus, integrative pharmacology-based traditional Chinese medicine (TCMIP) was proposed as a paradigm shift in TCM. This review focuses on the presentation of this novel concept and the main research contents, methodologies and applications of TCMIP. First, TCMIP is an interdisciplinary science that can establish qualitative and quantitative pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics (PK-PD) correlations through the integration of knowledge from multiple disciplines and techniques and from different PK-PD processes in vivo. Then, the main research contents of TCMIP are introduced as follows: chemical and ADME/PK profiles of TCM formulas; confirming the three forms of active substances and the three action modes; establishing the qualitative PK-PD correlation; and building the quantitative PK-PD correlations, etc. After that, we summarize the existing data resources, computational models and experimental methods of TCMIP and highlight the urgent establishment of mathematical modeling and experimental methods. Finally, we further discuss the applications of TCMIP for the improvement of TCM quality control, clarification of the molecular mechanisms underlying the actions of TCMs and discovery of potential new drugs, especially TCM-related combination drug discovery.