Characterization of the therapeutic properties of Chinese herbal materials by measuring delayed luminescence and dendritic cell-based immunomodulatory response.
Based on the traditional Chinese medicine theory, the Chinese pharmacopeia assigns a therapeutic description of "taste" to all herbs; thus, an herb's "taste" is valued in traditional Chinese medicine as a major ethnopharmacological category and reflects the herb's therapeutic properties. These properties guide the practitioner with respect to preparing a specific herbal formula in order to provide each patient with a personalized intervention. The key challenge in evidence-based medicine is to characterize herbal therapeutic properties from a multi-target, multi-dimensional systems pharmacology perspective. Here, we used delayed luminescence (DL, the slowly decaying emission of photons following excitation with light) as a rapid, direct, highly sensitive indicator to characterize the properties of herbal medicines. The DL parameters were able to reliably identify a specific category of herbal materials with the so-called "sweet" taste. To support the DL results and provide biological relevance to the DL results, we used a murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cell-based assay to examine the immunomodulatory effects of herbal extracts from various "taste" categories. Our results indicate that DL may serve as a robust and sensitive tool for evaluating the therapeutic properties of herbs based on the traditional Chinese medicine classification of "taste". Thus, DL provides a promising technological platform for investigating the properties of Chinese herbal medicines both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Analytical BioSciences, LACDR, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, The Netherlands; Sino-Dutch Center for Preventive and Personalized Medicine, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands; Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, No. 1035, Boshuo Rd, Jingyue Economic Development District, Changchun 130117, China.
Mengmeng
M
Sun
Department of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chinese Medicine Resources, College of Pharmacy, China Medical University, 91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung 40402, Taiwan.
Wen-Te
WT
Chang
Analytical BioSciences, LACDR, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, The Netherlands; Sino-Dutch Center for Preventive and Personalized Medicine, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands; Meluna Research, Koppelsedijk 1-a, 4191, LC, Geldermalsen, The Netherlands; Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, No. 1035, Boshuo Rd, Jingyue Economic Development District, Changchun 130117, China. Electronic address: eduard.vanwijk@sinodutchcentre.nl.
Eduard
E
Van Wijk
Analytical BioSciences, LACDR, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, The Netherlands; Sino-Dutch Center for Preventive and Personalized Medicine, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Min
M
He
Analytical BioSciences, LACDR, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, The Netherlands.
Slavik
S
Koval
Department of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chinese Medicine Resources, College of Pharmacy, China Medical University, 91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung 40402, Taiwan.
Ming-Kuem
MK
Lin
Sino-Dutch Center for Preventive and Personalized Medicine, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands; Meluna Research, Koppelsedijk 1-a, 4191, LC, Geldermalsen, The Netherlands.
Roel
R
Van Wijk
Analytical BioSciences, LACDR, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, The Netherlands; Sino-Dutch Center for Preventive and Personalized Medicine, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Thomas
T
Hankemeier
Analytical BioSciences, LACDR, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, The Netherlands; Sino-Dutch Center for Preventive and Personalized Medicine, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands; TNO, P.O. Box 360, 3700, AJ, Zeist, The Netherlands; SU BioMedicine, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands.
Jan
J
van der Greef
Analytical BioSciences, LACDR, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, The Netherlands; Sino-Dutch Center for Preventive and Personalized Medicine, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, 2300, RA, Leiden, The Netherlands; SU BioMedicine, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands; Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, No. 1035, Boshuo Rd, Jingyue Economic Development District, Changchun 130117, China.
Mei
M
Wang
D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D029001:Herbal Medicine; D056747:Immunomodulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D049449:Luminescence; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000145:classification; D013649:Taste / Q000276:immunology / Q000528:radiation effects
D010936:Plant Extracts
Chinese herbal medicine; Delayed luminescence; Dendritic cell; Immunity; Therapeutic classification