title: New perspectives on chinese herbal medicine (zhong-yao) research and development.
abstract: Synthetic chemical drugs, while being efficacious in the clinical management of many diseases, are often associated with undesirable side effects in patients. It is now clear that the need of therapeutic intervention in many clinical conditions cannot be satisfactorily met by synthetic chemical drugs. Since the research and development of new chemical drugs remain time-consuming, capital-intensive and risky, much effort has been put in the search for alternative routes for drug discovery in China. This narrative review illustrates various approaches to the research and drug discovery in Chinese herbal medicine. Although this article focuses on Chinese traditional drugs, it is also conducive to the development of other traditional remedies and innovative drug discovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100102, China.
authors.forename: Si-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Si-Bao
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hong-Guang
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Zhi-Ling
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Ji-Cui
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Zhi-Xian
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Wang-Fun
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.forename: Yi-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Kam-Ming
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Ko