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Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been modified to some extent in other Far Eastern countries such as Korea and Japan. Researchers of each of the three countries seem to use different English names for the same Chinese medicinal formulae. Lack of knowledge of the Chinese characters is destined to increase this confusion. In order to investigate this matter systematically, all investigations of Chinese medicine formulae published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine (AJCM, 1997-March 2001) were evaluated. Moreover, PubMed (1966-June 2001) was searched using keywords differentiated by language, location and number of hyphens, and upper-or lower-case of the first letter of the English equivalent of each Chinese character. Fifty-four formulae of TCM were identified in 45 reports published in AJCM. Thirty-two were named in Chinese only (23 reports); six in Japanese (six reports); and five in Korean (five reports). Ten formulae were named in Japanese with the Chinese name in brackets (ten reports); and one in Chinese with the Japanese name in brackets (one report). By computerized literature search, different numbers of research papers were retrieved by using keywords differentiated by language, location and number of hyphens. Such confusion may prevent progress in the evaluation of TCM. To increase the efficiency of studies on Chinese medical formulae, standardization of terminology is required.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal tract; the etiology is unknown and treatment is directed at systemic immunosuppression. Natural products, including medicinal herbs, have provided approximately half of the drugs developed for clinical use over the past 20 years. The purpose of our current study was to determine the effects of a novel combination of herbal extracts on intestinal inflammation using a murine model of IBD. Female Swiss-Webster mice were randomized to receive normal water or 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) drinking water to induce colitis. Mice were treated with either a novel combination of herbal aqueous extracts or vehicle control per os (po) or per rectum (pr) every 24 hours for 7–8 days. Disease activity index score (DAI) was determined daily; mice were sacrificed and colons were analyzed by H & E staining, MPO assay, and cytokine (TNF-α, IL-6) ELISAs. Mice treated with the combination of herbal extracts, either po or pr, had significantly less rectal bleeding and lower DAI scores compared to the vehicle-treated group. Moreover, colonic ulceration, leukocytic infiltration, and cytokine levels (TNF-α and IL-6) were also decreased in the colons of herbal-treated mice, reflected by H & E staining, MPO assay, and cytokine ELISA. Treatment with the combination of medicinal herbs decreases leukocyte infiltration and mucosal ulceration, ameliorating the course of acute colonic inflammation. This herbal remedy may prove to be a novel and safe therapeutic alternative in the treatment of IBD.

To discover and develop novel natural compounds, active ingredients, single herbs and combination formulas or prescriptions in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with therapeutic selectivity that can preferentially kill cancer cells and inhibit the amplification of cancer without significant toxicity is an important area in cancer therapy. A lot of valuable TCMs were applied as alternative or complementary medicines in the United States and Europe. But these TCMs, as one of the main natural resources, were widely used to research and develop new drugs in Asia. In TCMs, some specific herbs, animals, minerals and combination formulas were recorded and exploited due to their active ingredients and specific natural compounds with antitumor activities. The article focused on the antitumor properties of natural compounds and combination formulas or prescriptions in TCMs, described its influence on tumor progression, angiogenesis, metastasis, and revealed its mechanisms of antitumor and inhibitory action. Among the nature compounds, triptolide, berberine, matrine, oxymatrine, kurarinone and deoxypodophyllotoxin (DPT) with specific molecular structures have been separated, purified, and evaluated their antitumor properties in vitro and in vivo. Cancer is a multifactorial and multistep disease, so the treatment effect of combination formulas and prescriptions in TCMs involving multi-targets and multi-signal pathways on tumor may be superior than that of agents targeting a single molecular target alone. Shi Quan Da Bu Tang and Yanshu injection, as well known combination formulas and prescriptions in TCMs, have shown an excellent therapeutic effect on cancer.

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