Great progress has been made in the study of fatty liver with integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine in aspects of diagnosis, treatment and experimental study, etc. Most researches were designed to utilize diagnostic or model replicating method of western medicine to observe the effects or investigate the action mechanism of compound recipe, single Chinese herb or effective ingredients of Chinese herbs on fatty liver. According to the pathological mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), fatty liver is characterized by deficiency in nature and repletion in appearance, which involves three Zang viscera such as liver, spleen and kidney and manifests as spleen Qi deficiency, liver and kidney deficiency, phlegm and dampness heaping internally, and Qi stagnation and blood stasis. This facilitates us to use specific recipe or modified recipe to treat fatty liver from the points of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine and combining syndrome differentiation with disease differentiation. With gratifying achievement, this kind of approach has been the mainstream of the research on fatty liver and many researchers have reached an agreement on this point domestically. Spleen Fortifying and Blood Invigorating Recipe (SFBVER in brief, invented by our institute) can significantly improve the B ultrasound outcome of the liver in patients with fatty liver, with significant difference in B ultrasound scoring between pre-and post-treatment. It can alleviate the patients' symptoms, improve or regain liver function, decrease waist/buttocks ratio and the content of triglyceride and cholesterol in blood. SFBVER is superior to Dongbao Gantai Recipe in general effective rate. Experimental study also reveals that SFBVER can alleviate CCl(4) induced liver cell fatty degeneration and the inflammatory cell infiltration in rats, decrease the activities of ALT and AST, lower the content of triglyceride in liver, recover SOD activity in liver to normal level. The overall efficacy of SFBVER is superior to that of Dongbao Gantai Recipe. Further correlated study should be focused on inventing new preparation of traditional Chinese medicine and investigating its action mechanism with the guiding of the theory of TCM and referring to the latest discovery in fatty liver research in modern medicine.

The compound of active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM),whose material base is relatively clear,adheres to the concept and advantages of formula compatibility of TCM.Thus,it is an important approach to modern TCMresearch.The significance of research on compound of TCMcomponents/ingredients,as well as the research ideas,is sketched out,and the current research on compound of TCMcomponents for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases is reviewed.The research strategies for TCMcomposition/compound for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases are elucidated from the following two aspects:exploring the compound of TCM components based on clinical TCM compound and studying the composition aiming at the effective components or ingredients of TCM that have been known;it is pointed out that the compatibility of effective TCM components,which provides the method and technology system for innovative drug research,is an innovative research model for inheriting and developing the TCMtheory and is one of the important approaches to modern TCM research.

This article was aimed to expound current complexity and diversity about Chinese medicine dose-ef-fect relationship . It demonstrated that the study on Chinese medicine dose-effect relationship should be based on clinical effect as its foundation , and be guided by the traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM ) theories . Differ-ent modern science and technology means and methods should be applied for the multi-perspective , multi-lev-el and multidisciplinary systematic study of the Chinese medicine dose-effect relationship .

Systems biology, which includes genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics, is an integration of system theory and biology. It studies the life phenomena with thinking method of systems theory. And it provides an important methodological basis and technical conditions for recognizing syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and mechanism of therapeutic effect from multiple disciplines and perspectives. Systems biology is similar to the core idea of TCM system and holism concept. Therefore, systems biology can be used as a platform and pivot of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in modern TCM study. Systems biology will accelerate the modernization research of TCM in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD. It will also provide new ideas and methods for TCM study on NAFLD.

OBJECTIVE: To study the therapeutic mechanism of salvianolic acid B (SA-B) in treating hepatic fibrosis. METHODS: Twenty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: normal control group, untreated group and SA-B-treated group. Rats in the untreated and SA-B-treated groups were injected intraperitoneally with 0.5% dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) for 4 weeks, daily for 3 days each week at a dose of 10 microg/kg, to induce hepatic fibrosis. Then, rats in the SA-B-treated group were given SA-B orally for another 4 weeks. Hydroxyproline (Hyp) contents in liver tissue of the rats in 3 groups were determined with HCl hydrolysis, and collagen type I, transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta1), transforming growth factor-beta receptor type I (TbetaRI) and transforming growth factor-beta receptor type II (TbetaRII) were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: The Hyp content and the expressions of collagen type I, TGF-beta1, TbetaRI and TbetaRII in the liver tissue of rats in the untreated group increased significantly as compared with those in the normal control group, while those in SA-B-treated group decreased significantly as compared with those in the untreated group. CONCLUSION: The therapeutic mechanism of SA-B in treating hepatic fibrosis may be related to inhibiting the expressions of TGF-beta1 and its receptors.

To investigate the effects of Yiguanjian Decoction, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on rats with cirrhosis based on the method of differential proteomics.

To investigate the effects and characteristics of Fuzheng Huayu recipe, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, and its decomposed therapies against hepatocyte apoptosis in mice with hepatic injury.

To investigate the herbal medicines which play a main role in Chinese herbal formula Jianpi Huoxue Decoction for improving intestinal permeability and protect alcohol-induced liver injury and intestine damage, and to explore the analysis method for the material base of pharmacological effects of the Chinese herbal compound.

To explore the effects of Qushi Huayu Decoction (QSHYD), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, in prevention and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats.