| As the mainstay and principal form of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been the subject of growing interest and popular use worldwide. However, its unique philosophy, diagnosis and prescription are completely different from Western Medicine (WM), which has brought great challenges for the quality standardisation, safety control, and efficacy evaluation confronting its development in a modernised scientific manner.;This PhD project aims to address challenges that revolve around the efficacy research of CHM. Based on CHM theory, the key mechanism of the efficacy of CHM is the synergistic interactions among multiple herbal ingredients in a formula to reach an optimised therapeutic effect, multi-target mode of actions and reduced potential side effects. Several rigorous analytical methods such as combination index (CI), isobolographic analysis and systems biology are designed for the quantitative evaluations of synergistic effects in pharmaceutical combination therapy, and have also been utilised for the study of CHM. Among them, CI and isobologram models are applied for studying the interactions of a small number of active components or herbal extracts on the same target or receptor in which their chemical and pharmacological properties are well defined. A systems biology model may also be used to analyse multi-component, multi-target actions in combinational therapy. However, following a systematic review, it is apparent that the current literature on synergistic study of CHM is still at an early stage. Based on previous studies, we hypothesised that a platform to systematically analyse synergistic interactions of herbal compounds can be established by modern bioassays and scientific models (e.g., CI and isobologram approaches).;Herb-pairs are the basic unit for the Chinese herbal formulae. Salvia Miltiorrhiza Radix et Rhizoma and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizome (known as Danshen [DS] and Sanqi [SQ] in TCM) has been one of the most frequently prescribed herb pairs in TCM clinics for cardiovascular disease management for over 30 years in Asian countries. However, very limited mechanistic studies on the combinational benefits on the complex pathological mechanisms of vascular diseases are available, despite the fact that the bioactivities for a single extract have been well studied. Therefore, the DS-SQ herb-pair was selected as a case study to address the issue of synergistic activities in CHM. |
