National TCM Key Lab of Serum Pharmacochemistry, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Key Pharmacometabolomics Platform of Chinese Medicines, Ministry of Education, Harbin 150040, China.
Am J Chin Med. 2012;40(6):1109-22. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X12500826.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), an alternative medicine, focuses on the treatment of human disease via the integrity of the close relationship between body and syndrome analysis. It remains a form of primary care in most Asian countries and its characteristics showcase the great advantages of personalized medicine. Although this approach to disease diagnosis, prognosis and treatment has served the medical establishment well for thousands of years, it has serious shortcomings in the era of modern medicine that stem from its reliance on reductionist principles of experimentation and analysis. In this way, systems biology offers the potential to personalize medicine, facilitating the provision of the right care to the right patient at the right time. We expect that systems biology will have a major impact on future personalized therapeutic approaches which herald the future of medicine. Here we summarize current trends and critically review the potential limitations and future prospects of such treatments. Some characteristic examples are presented to highlight the application of this groundbreaking platform to personalized TCM as well as some of the necessary milestones for moving systems biology of a state-of-the-art nature into mainstream health care.
中医（TCM）是一种替代医学，它通过分析人体的整体状态和综合症状来治疗人类疾病。它仍然是亚洲大多数国家初级保健的一种形式，其特点展示了个性化医学的巨大优势。尽管这种疾病诊断、预后和治疗方法几千年来一直为医疗体系服务，但它在现代医学时代存在严重的缺陷，因为它依赖于还原论的实验和分析原则。从这个意义上讲，系统生物学为个性化医学提供了潜力，使我们能够在正确的时间为正确的患者提供正确的护理。我们预计系统生物学将对未来的个性化治疗方法产生重大影响，预示着医学的未来。在这里，我们总结了当前的趋势，并批判性地审查了这些治疗方法的潜在局限性和未来前景。一些典型的例子被提出，以强调将这一开创性的平台应用于个性化中医，以及将先进的系统生物学引入主流医疗保健所需的一些重要里程碑。
