title: Pharmacological tools for the development of traditional Chinese medicine.
abstract: Pharmacology as a modern science was introduced in China approximately 150 years ago, and has been used since then to study traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Pharmacology has experienced its own development over this time and continues to provide new tools for the study of TCM. In the present review, three models for the pharmacological study of TCM are considered: (i) chemistry-focused study; (ii) target-directed study; and (iii) systems-biology-based study. These approaches correspond to recent developments in pharmacology, and in particular to new tools available to the field. Representative achievements and the pharmacological tools used to study TCM are reviewed. Pharmacology has played, and will continue to play, an indispensable role in elucidating the chemical basis, biological targets, and mechanisms of action of TCM medicines, and in developing a scientific basis for the theory of TCM.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Research Center for TCM Modernization, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wan-Ying
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Bao-Hong
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: De-An
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal