title: The Potential of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment and Modulation of Pain.
abstract: Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with various diseases. Extensive research has been conducted to find appropriate methods of relieving pain and improving the quality of life. However, the most commonly used pain-relieving agents such as opioid therapeutics are often associated with harmful side effects; moreover, users are prone to become addicted to these agents and may develop tolerance. Often, nonopioid therapeutics is only marginally effective, thus leading to a significant unmet medical need. Scientists have studied herbal medicines, finding more than 800 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to be effective in relieving pain while also creating several monomeric compounds to develop novel analgesic drugs. In this review, we summarize the representative TCM currently available for the treatment and modulation of pain. Ten different natural products, mainly herbs, used in Chinese medicine to relieve pain are discussed in light of the theories of TCM and modern pharmacology. We hope that this review will provide valuable information for future studies on the potential of TCM in alleviating pain.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Targets Identification and Drug Screening, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: dugh@imm.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Guan-Hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Targets Identification and Drug Screening, Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Tian-Yi
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China.
authors.forename: Li-da
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimmunopharmacology, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: zhangyx@bmi.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yong-Xiang
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D064209:Phytochemicals / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D064209:Phytochemicals
keywords: Activate blood circulation; Analgesia; Dissipate blood stasis; Inflammation; Traditional Chinese medicine