Drug discovery enters a new era with multi-target intervention strategy.
10.1007/s11655-011-0900-2
- Author:
Xiao-ying TIAN
1
;
Liang LIU
Author Information
1. Centre for Cancer and Inflammation Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Drug Design;
Drug Discovery;
trends;
Drug Synergism;
Herb-Drug Interactions;
Humans;
Molecular Targeted Therapy;
trends;
Plants, Medicinal
- From:
Chinese journal of integrative medicine
2012;18(7):539-542
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
In the past century, as medical research has become increasingly precise, it has become clear that the incidence and progression of many diseases involve multiple factors and pathologies; this is particularly true for the degenerative and metabolic diseases facing industrialized societies. At the same time, it becomes increasingly clear that single-target action drugs cannot effectively treat these diseases. Researchers are looking toward the chemical industry as well as traditional herbal medicines to find multi-target interventions. Thus, a new era in drug discovery has begun. Specifically, three approaches have proven effective in seeking multi-target drugs. These are: (1) designing drugs with multiple components; (2) discovering drugs through the study of synergistic compound-compound interactions in medicinal herbs or among chemical drugs and herbal components; and (3) developing drugs to tackle complex multi-component diseases. The authors conclude that there is an increasing need for multi-component remedies to treat the complex chronic diseases afflicting modern populations. Given this situation and the growing body of evidence that these new approaches are effective, multi-target intervention appears to have great potential for discovering, designing, and developing effective new drugs for today's diseases.
