Network Pharmacology And Traditional Medicine Setting The New Standards By Combining In Silico And Experimental Work

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This book introduces “network pharmacology” as an emerging frontier subject of systematic drug research in the era of artificial intelligence and big data. Network Pharmacology is an original subject of fusion system biology, bioinformatics, network science and other related disciplines. It emphasizes on starting from the overall perspective of the system level and biological networks, the analysis of the laws of molecular association between drugs and their treatment objects, reveals the systematic pharmacological mechanisms of drugs, and guides the research and development of new drugs and clinical diagnosis and treatment. After it was proposed, network pharmacology has been paid attention by researchers, and it has been rapidly developed and widely used. In order to systematically reveal the biological basis of diagnosis and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine, we proposed a new concept of "network target" for the first time, which has become the core theory of "network pharmacology". The core principle of a network target is to construct a biological network that can be used to decipher complex diseases. The network is then used as the therapeutic target, to which multicomponent remedies are applied. This book mainly includes four parts: 1) The concept and theory of network pharmacology; 2) Common analysis methods, databases and software in network pharmacological research; 3) Typical cases of traditional Chinese medicine modernization and modern drug research based on network pharmacology; 4) Network pharmacology practice process based on drugs and diseases.

Network pharmacology reveals pharmacological mechanisms of drugs for outlining the development and discovery of drugs along with clinical treatment. It combines clinical, experimental and computational investigation, while creating favorable conditions for investigating the features of traditional medicine. The aim of network pharmacology is to reveal and reflect on the biological foundations of various complex diseases and effects of drugs by the application of network based understanding. It is useful in drug discovery and development, as it combines system biology and genomic technologies through computational biological tools. It is capable of elucidating complex relations amidst biological systems, diseases and drugs. It emphasizes on systems level modeling of mechanism of drugs, by integrating protein-protein interaction, drug-target interaction along with other type of interactome data. This book explores all the important aspects of network pharmacology in the present day scenario. It presents researches and studies performed by experts across the globe. As this field is emerging at a rapid pace, the contents of this book will help the readers to understand drug discovery and development within network pharmacology.

Drug Discovery and Evaluation has become a more and more difficult, expensive and time-consuming process. The effect of a new compound has to be detected by in vitro and in vivo methods of pharmacology. The activity spectrum and the potency compared to existing drugs have to be determined. As these processes can be divided up stepwise we have designed a book series "Drug Discovery and Evaluation" in the form of a recommendation document. The methods to detect drug targets are described in the first volume of this series "Pharmacological Assays" comprising classical methods as well as new technologies. Before going to man, the most suitable compound has to be selected by pharmacokinetic studies and experiments in toxicology. These preclinical methods are described in the second volume „Safety and Pharmacokinetic Assays". Only then are first studies in human beings allowed. Special rules are established for Phase I studies. Clinical pharmacokinetics are performed in parallel with human studies on tolerability and therapeutic effects. Special studies according to various populations and different therapeutic indications are necessary. These items are covered in the third volume: „Methods in Clinical Pharmacology".

This book is unique in covering the present status and future potential of natural products in drug discovery. It provides readers with recent information regarding the impact on drug discovery, development and strategies, technical and automation aspects, and methods based on biochemistry as well as molecular biology, highlighting compounds from natural sources. Special emphasis is placed on the various strategies to gain access to natural compounds and combinatorial approaches by making use of both synthetic and biological methods.

SARS is a newly identified human infection caused by a corona virus unlike any other known human or animal virus in its family. The analysis of epidemiological information obtained from the sites of the outbreaks of SARS is still underway but the overall case fatality ratio is known to approach 11% although the rate among the elderly is much higher. Currently the major challenges for the treatment of SARS are: the source of the SARS virus and mode of transmission are still not well understood; there are problems with diagnostic tools; there is no effective treatment; and there is no vaccine for SARS. The above-mentioned difficulties and challenges have motivated national authorities health workers and scientists to explore the potential of complementary treatment. The results of research on integrated treatment with TCM and Western medicine showed that it is safe and that it also has some potential clinical benefits. Therefore the experts suggested that records of such experience could serve as reference material for treatment of SARS in the future. This publication is intended to share experience in the complementary treatment of SARS patients; share the experience of clinical studies in the field of traditional medicine for treatment of SARS between the physicians and researchers; and to further encourage and promote the quality of research in the filed of traditional medicine.

Technologies collectively called omics enable simultaneous measurement of an enormous number of biomolecules; for example, genomics investigates thousands of DNA sequences, and proteomics examines large numbers of proteins. Scientists are using these technologies to develop innovative tests to detect disease and to predict a patient's likelihood of responding to specific drugs. Following a recent case involving premature use of omics-based tests in cancer clinical trials at Duke University, the NCI requested that the IOM establish a committee to recommend ways to strengthen omics-based test development and evaluation. This report identifies best practices to enhance development, evaluation, and translation of omics-based tests while simultaneously reinforcing steps to ensure that these tests are appropriately assessed for scientific validity before they are used to guide patient treatment in clinical trials.