title: Metabolomics and its application to the evaluation of the efficacy and toxicity of traditional Chinese herb medicines.
abstract: Traditional Chinese herb medicines (TCHMs) have been used in the treatment of a variety of diseases for thousands of years in Asian countries. The active components of TCHMs usually exert combined synergistic therapeutic effects on multiple targets, but with less potential therapeutic effect based on routine indices than Western drugs. These complex effects make the assessment of the efficacy of TCHMs and the clarification of their underlying mechanisms very challenging, and therefore hinder their wider application and acceptance. Metabolomics is a crucial part of systems biology. It allows the quantitative measurement of large numbers of the low-molecular endogenous metabolites involved in metabolic pathways, and thus reflects the fundamental metabolism status of the body. Recently, dozens of metabolomic studies have been devoted to prove the efficacy/safety, explore the underlying mechanisms, and identify the potential biomarkers to access the action targets of TCHMs, with fruitful results. This article presents an overview of these studies, focusing on the progress made in exploring the pharmacology and toxicology of various herbal medicines.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Jiangsu Key laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China; Pharmacy Department, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Jiangsu Key laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China; Pharmacy Department, Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Jiangsu Key laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Wen
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Jiangsu Key laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Drug Delivery System and Biotech Drugs in Universities of Shandong, Yantai University, Yantai, China. Electronic address: jiyea@cpu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ji-Ye
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Aa
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Ao
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xuan-Xuan
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Jiangsu Key laboratory of Drug Design and Optimization, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Guang-Ji
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Research Center of New Drug Evaluation, The National Laboratory of Pharmacodynamics and Pharmacokinetics, Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Chang-Xiao
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D055432:Metabolomics
keywords: Drug efficacy; Metabolomics; Toxicity; Traditional Chinese herb medicines