Archives of Medical Research 40 (2009) 62e63

OPINION

Shifted Research Approach for New Drug Discovery

Tong Liang

School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China

Received for publication September 20, 2008; accepted September 29, 2008 (ARCMED-D-08-00429).

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Systems biology and the Herbalome Project have good prospects if the specific episteme-method approach of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is taken into serious consider-ation. TCM takes advantage of a specific holistic method, which is based on the epistememethod approach derived from the conceptions of unceasing movement and dynamicholism, to handle the diagnosis and treatments of certain diseases. Although the epistememethod approach of TCM is quite different from that of modern medicine, some recentinvestigations have in principle clarified the episteme method characters of TCM. Bymeans of high-tech purification methods, additional drugs than only artemisinin (qinghao-su) from TCM can be expected in the near future. � 2009 IMSS. Published byElsevier Inc.

Key Words: Traditional Chinese medicine, Cognitive function, Shifted research approach.

By studying the interactions between organic components,the holistic method of systems biology derives new drugsfrom Chinese herbal medicine (1). However, systemsbiology, even the Herbalome Project (2), has good prospectsif the specific episteme method approach of traditionalChinese medicine (TCM) is taken into serious consideration.Because TCM, as a complex system, has large and compli-cated data sets of the human body, only computational andstatistical tools at present can deal with them (1,2). Moreover,it will never be easy to distinguish thousands of active com-pounds from toxic contaminants of recipes of TCM. Thus, itis necessary to introduce research approaches prudently cor-related with systems biology or the Herbalome Project.

TCM takes advantage of a specific holistic method tomanage the diagnosis and treatments of some certain dis-ease. And the specific holistic method TCM generally usedis based on the episteme method approach, which derivesfrom the conceptions of unceasing movement and dynamicholism. On the basis of those conceptions, TCM’s theoriesimply that most human diseases or discomforts can beunderstood and reasoned by means of phases (particularstages in a periodical cycle), periods (periodical cycles inwhich certain phenomena occur repeatedly) and processes

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angzhou City, Guangdong Province, China 510260;

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front matter. Copyright � 2009 IMSS. Published by Elseved.2008.09.006

(dynamic interactions between the phases and periods inthe given time and space). Phases summarized andabstracted from daily experience and periods coming fromthe documented records of observation over the years canserve as operators in the process, which contains the ratio-nale of TCM. By means of statistics, the phases and periodsare regarded as two sorts of the large and complicated datasets of the human body.

The large and complicated data sets of the human bodyare usually accessible in light of the quantum theory of sta-tistical dynamics (subclusters) (3). In addition, vital organssuch as kidneys, lungs and liver have various distributionsof electric affinity (3) and, therefore, the compounds inTCM medications will set about the tropism according tovarious distributions mentioned above. These medicinesmay help to identify useful compounds and discover newdrugs.

Figure 1 demonstrates the theoretical simulated curvesof the lung and kidney according to the quantum theoryof statistical dynamics (3).

In each chart of Figure 1, x stands for the electric affinityof a certain element of vital force in the lung or kidney, andX refers to the logarithm of content of the element of vitalforce in both organs. The numerical value R1 generallystands for the distribution of elements of vital force, whichshows high electrical affinity, and R2 for the distribution ofthose that show low electric affinity. In general, the mathe-matical correlation between x, X, R1 and R2 is given by:

ier Inc.

Figure 1. Left: Theoretical simulated curve of the lung according to the quantum theory of statistical dynamics. Right: Theoretical simulated curve of the

kidney according to the quantum theory of statistical dynamics.

63New Drug Discovery

x� xmin

xmax � x5

1þR1X

1�X

1þR21�X

X

where xmin is the minimum of the electrical affinity ofelements of vital force in the given organ, and xmax is themaximum of the electrical affinity of those in the givenorgan.

In addition, the solid black points refer to experimentaldata, whereas the curve is the theoretical simulation withregard to the quantum theory of statistical dynamics.

Apparently, the episteme method approach of TCMis quite different from that of modern medicine. And so isthe knowledge configuration of TCM. The knowledge con-figuration of TCM can be viewed as an instance ofabductive reasoning (4) so as to make it possible for peopleto comprehend the modularity of multicompound peaks(2), which consist of series of relevant ingredients. Moreover,how the ingredients of compound formulae in TCM medica-tion take effect may provide the answer with the help of themathematics of YineYang and the Five Phases in TCM (5).

A research tradition such as the episteme methodapproach of TCM may have more or less of a deficiency,yet it probably yields convincing theories or efficaciousmedication (6). Even though TCM has been labeled aspseudoscience, no one can infer that the suitable epis-teme-method approach of TCM will not find any applica-tions in discovering the inner secrets of herbalmedication. It is more important that modern medicineand TCM share the same goal of improving human healththan whether the former is superior or inferior to the latter.

Artemisinin (Qing Hao-su) for anti-malaria is one of thesuccessful drugs derived from Chinese herbal preparations.But it is no longer sufficient to merely depend on the

reductionist approach to explore the potential drugs becauseit is no longer believed that a single gene causes one disease(7). By means of the high-tech purification methods (2),other drugs in addition to artemisinin from TCM can beexpected in the near future.

AcknowledgmentsThe author thanks Professor Al Martinich for his enlighteneddiscussion and thoughtful revision and Mrs. Guan Yi and Mr.Hsu Yangyang for their kind help.

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