TY - JOUR
T1 - Synergistic effects of Chinese herbal medicine
T2 - A comprehensive review of methodology and current research
AU - Zhou, Xian
AU - Seto, Sai Wang
AU - Chang, Dennis
AU - Kiat, Hosen
AU - Razmovski-Naumovski, Valentina
AU - Chan, Kelvin
AU - Bensoussan, Alan
N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2016. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2016/7/12
Y1 - 2016/7/12
N2 - Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important part of primary health care in Asian countries that has utilized complex herbal formulations (consisting 2 or more medicinal herbs) for treating diseases over thousands of years. There seems to be a general assumption that the synergistic therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) derive from the complex interactions between the multiple bioactive components within the herbs and/or herbal formulations. However, evidence to support these synergistic effects remains weak and controversial due to several reasons, including the very complex nature of CHM, misconceptions about synergy and methodological challenges to study design. In this review, we clarify the definition of synergy, identify common errors in synergy research and describe current methodological approaches to test for synergistic interaction. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these models in the context of CHM and summarize the current status of synergy research in CHM. Despite the availability of some scientific data to support the synergistic effects of multi-herbal and/or herb-drug combinations, the level of evidence remains low, and the clinical relevancy of most of these findings is undetermined. There remain significant challenges in the development of suitable methods for synergistic studies of complex herbal combinations.
AB - Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important part of primary health care in Asian countries that has utilized complex herbal formulations (consisting 2 or more medicinal herbs) for treating diseases over thousands of years. There seems to be a general assumption that the synergistic therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) derive from the complex interactions between the multiple bioactive components within the herbs and/or herbal formulations. However, evidence to support these synergistic effects remains weak and controversial due to several reasons, including the very complex nature of CHM, misconceptions about synergy and methodological challenges to study design. In this review, we clarify the definition of synergy, identify common errors in synergy research and describe current methodological approaches to test for synergistic interaction. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these models in the context of CHM and summarize the current status of synergy research in CHM. Despite the availability of some scientific data to support the synergistic effects of multi-herbal and/or herb-drug combinations, the level of evidence remains low, and the clinical relevancy of most of these findings is undetermined. There remain significant challenges in the development of suitable methods for synergistic studies of complex herbal combinations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84981333189&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fphar.2016.00201
DO - 10.3389/fphar.2016.00201
M3 - Review article
C2 - 27462269
AN - SCOPUS:84981333189
SN - 1663-9812
VL - 7
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Frontiers in Pharmacology
JF - Frontiers in Pharmacology
M1 - 201
ER -