Chinese prescription is composed of Chinese herbal medicines according to "seven compatible relations" and "sovereign, minister, assistant and courier" principles. There are many methods in the research on combination and composition of Chinese herbal medicines. These methods are classified into traditional model and modern model. For the time being, compatibility study of traditional Chinese herbal medicines has developed from traditional model to modern model. The traditional model mainly studies the effects and mechanisms of the whole and split formulae in medical crude drug level, while the modern model mainly studies the effects and mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicine compositions in components combination level. Moreover, quantitative analysis becomes probable by modern model method. Now, setting up of new components combination model and optimal composition methods will not only develop the combination and the composition of Chinese herbal medicines from medicinal crude drug level to components composition level, but also get new formulae which have clear components and effects, and action targets and mechanisms. It will effectively promote the development of Chinese medicine formula.

Liver fibrosis is a primary cause of liver cirrhosis, and even hepatocarcinoma. Recently, the usage of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been investigated to improve liver fibrosis. It has been reported that the differentiation, proliferation and migration of MSCs can be regulated by traditional Chinese medicine treatment; however, the mechanisms are still unclear. In this article, the authors review the characteristics of MSCs such as multidirectional differentiation and homing, and its application in animal experiments and clinical trials. The authors also list areas that need further investigation, andlook at the future prospects of clinical application of MSCs.

Aim To explore the effect of Baicalein and its mechanism on the invasion and migration of human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells.Methods The effect of Baicalein on cell viability was tested by MTT.The cell invasion and migration were determined by transwell chamber model.The cell movement capability was determined by cell scratch assay.The expressions of matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)2 and 9,urokinase-type plasminogen activator(uPA)were detected by Western blot.Results 50,100 ?mol?L-1 of Baicalein inhibited significantly cell invasion(P

As an important clinical mode, the disease-syndrome-efficacy integration is a development trend of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and western medicine combination. The mode combined comprehensive effica-cy evaluation based on disease-syndrome integration is able to highlight advantages of TCM clinical diagnosis and treatment. With the status of disease-syndrome and effects of Chinese herbal medicine treatments, the en-dogenous metabolites and metabolic network of body changed in the systemic level. According to the analysis of these metabolic changes by metabolomic technologies, it is helpful to investigate the essence of disease-syndrome and explain the mechanism of Chinese herbal medicine actions. This review summarized the current applications of metabolomics in the area of disease-syndrome-efficacy integration research . Metabolomics applied in the disease-syndrome-efficacy integration research is helpful to facilitate the development of TCM and western medicine combination .

Objective To investigate the differential gene expression in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with typical syndromes of traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM) syndromes, and to explore the relationship between TCM syndromes and gene expression. Methods Peripheral blood samples were collected from CHB patients and healthy volunteers before treatment. After total RNA of leukocytes was isolated, the gene expression profiles were detected by microarray. The expression levels of partial genes were tested by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) . Results Microarray analysis results showed that there were significant differences of gene expression between CHB patients and healthy volunteers, and among CHB patients with the syndrome of liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency, syndrome of damp-heat accumulation, and syndrome of liver-kidney yin deficiency. The results of gene ontology ( GO) and signal pathway analysis between the healthy control and CHB patients with various syndromes showed that the specially-regulated genes of CHB patients with liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency were mainly related to cytokinetic process, those in patients with dampness-heat accumulation were mainly related to the positive regulation of lipid storage, and those of patients with liver-kidney yin deficiency were mainly related to the activities of nitric oxide synthase regulator. The real time RT-PCR for partial genes presented the similar results with those of gene microarray. Conclusion There are specific expression profiles of differential genes and significant differential genes in CHB patients with the syndrome of liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency, syndrome of damp-heat accumulation, and syndrome of liver-kidney yin deficiency, which may be the molecular foundation for the classification of TCM syndromes of CHB patients.

To investigate the classification and modeling of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes in post-hepatitic cirrhosis by partial least-squares (PLS) method, and to study the clinical application of PLS method in TCM research.

The characteristics and advantages of traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM ) diagnosis and treatment of chronic liver diseases are conducted on the individualized treatment based on TCM syndrome classification . In this study , the analysis of systems biology was carried out for TCM syndrome classification in chronic hepatitis B and posthepatitic cirrhosis . The relationship between TCM syndrome classification and genetic polymorphism , the difference of genes and protein expression profiles , the difference of urine metabolite , and the molecular mechanism of Different TCM Syndrome for Same Disease and Same TCM Syndrome for Different Diseaseswere discussed . The results showed that there are molecular biological basis in TCM syndrome classification in hepatitis B and posthepatitic cirrhosis . The systems biology based syndrome identification methods may be bene-ficial to form a new classification , and provide reference for the diagnosis and individual therapy of hepatitis B and posthepatitic cirrhosis .

To investigate the differential gene expression profile in two typical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and to find the relationship between TCM syndromes and gene expressions.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of Guizhi Decoction, Chaihu Guizhi Decoction, Xiaochaihu Decoction and camostat on rat spontaneous chronic pancreatitis and the pathological relationships between formulas and syndromes. METHODS: Fifty-seven male WBN/Kob rats at age of 4 weeks were divided into five groups: untreated group (n=18), Guizhi Decoction-treated group (n=9), Chaihu Guizhi Decoction-treated group (n=9), Xiaochaihu Decoction-treated group (n=9) and camostat-treated group (n=12). The rats in each group were fed with corresponding drugs for 12 weeks. The pancreatic wet weight and histopathological changes of pancreatic tissue were observed every four weeks. Meanwhile, the expression level of pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) in pancreas was detected by RT-PCR technique and immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: In the untreated group, the histopathological changes in pancreas were observed in rats at 12-week age, while such changes were absent in the Guizhi Decoction-treated group. The histopathological changes in pancreas were quite remarkable in rats at 16-week age in both the Xiaochaihu Decoction-treated and the camostat-treated groups. The expression level of PAP mRNA was lower in the Guizhi Decoction-treated group than those in the other groups. The PAP expressions were absent in rats at 12-week age in the Guizhi Decoction-treated and the Chaihu Guizhi Decocion-treated groups. CONCLUSION: Guizhi Decoction, Chaihu Guizhi Decoction, Xiaochaihu Decoction and camostat are all beneficial to prevention and cure of chronic pancreatitis, and Guizhi Decoction is the most effective one. It is speculated that Taiyang exterior syndrome may be the pathogenesis of basic syndrome may be the pathogenesis of basic syndrome of spontaneous chronic pancreatitis, and the expression of PAP may be its pathological basis.