title: Classification of Chinese herbs based on the cluster analysis of delayed luminescence.
abstract: Traditional Chinese material medica are an important component of the Chinese pharmacopeia. According to the traditional Chinese medicinal concept, Chinese herbal medicines are classified into different categories based on their therapeutic effects, however, the bioactive principles cannot be solely explained by chemical analysis. The aim of this study is to classify different Chinese herbs based on their therapeutic effects by using delayed luminescence (DL). The DL of 56 Chinese herbs was measured using an ultra-sensitive luminescence detection system. The different DL parameters were used to classify Chinese herbs according to a hierarchical cluster analysis. The samples were divided into two groups based on their DL kinetic parameters. Interestingly, the DL classification results were quite consistent with classification according to the Chinese medicinal concepts of 'cold' and 'heat' properties. In this paper, we show for the first time that by using DL technology, it is possible to classify Chinese herbs according to the Chinese medicinal concept and it may even be possible to predict their therapeutic properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.|Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Center, Key Laboratory for Biotech-Drugs of the Ministry of Health, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Jingxiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Meina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Jialei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Sino-Dutch Centre for Preventive and Personalized Medicine/Centre for Photonics of Living Systems, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Wijk
authors.affiliation: Sino-Dutch Centre for Preventive and Personalized Medicine/Centre for Photonics of Living Systems, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Center, Key Laboratory for Biotech-Drugs of the Ministry of Health, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Center, Key Laboratory for Biotech-Drugs of the Ministry of Health, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.|Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Center, Key Laboratory for Biotech-Drugs of the Ministry of Health, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Ji'nan, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Jinxiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification*; D049449:Luminescence; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal
keywords: Chinese herbal medicines; delayed luminescence; hierarchical cluster analysis; therapeutic properties of TCM