Yi Yeong-Deug, Chang Il-Moo
Natural Products Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2004 Sep 1;1(2):125-132. doi: 10.1093/ecam/neh019.
Traditional Chinese herbal therapy can be characterized by the use of a large number of multi-herb formulae. To provide modern and Western scientists without knowledge of Chinese literature and cultural background easy access to information, a database with a total of 11 810 traditional Chinese herbal formulae was constructed. All the information was then translated into understandable scientific terms in English. While coining the formula titles in English, we discovered some principles governing the naming of titles by using computer analysis. In addition, we observed that about 92% of the formulae are in the range of single-herb formulae to thirteen-herb formulae. Most large number-herb formulae are formulated by combining pre-existing smaller number-herb formulae. The King herbs () with major therapeutic activity in a multi-herb formula were identified by the formulation concept using two parameters: the herbal dose and the herbal drug property (the degree of toxicity). Based on such analytical data, we established an English code system representing all formula titles written in ideographic Chinese characters: an array of important key words such as 'Herbal name in Latin + Efficacy (Target organs) + Preparation form + Number of herbs.' By searching the English version of the database with any of the above key words, a variety of information on the status of traditional Chinese herbal therapy can be accessed.
传统中药疗法的特点是使用大量的复方。为了让不了解中国文献和文化背景的现代西方科学家能够轻松获取信息，构建了一个包含总共11810种传统中药复方的数据库。然后将所有信息翻译成通俗易懂的英文科学术语。在为复方标题创造英文名称时，我们通过计算机分析发现了一些标题命名的原则。此外，我们观察到约92%的复方属于单味药复方到十三味药复方的范围。大多数多味药复方是通过组合现有的较少味药复方来配制的。通过使用两个参数的配方概念，即草药剂量和草药药性（毒性程度），确定了在多味药复方中具有主要治疗活性的君药（）。基于这些分析数据，我们建立了一个英文编码系统，用于表示所有用表意汉字书写的复方标题：一系列重要关键词，如“拉丁药名+功效（靶器官）+制剂形式+药味数”。通过使用上述任何一个关键词搜索数据库的英文版本，可以获取有关传统中药疗法现状的各种信息。
