Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari Cagliari, Italy.
Front Pharmacol. 2013 Jul 25;4:92. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2013.00092. eCollection 2013.
The ethnopharmacological approach toward the understanding and appraisal of traditional and herbal medicines is characterized by the inclusions of the social as well as the natural sciences. Anthropological field-observations describing the local use of nature-derived medicines are the basis for ethnopharmacological enquiries. The multidisciplinary scientific validation of indigenous drugs is of relevance to modern societies at large and helps to sustain local health care practices. Especially with respect to therapies related to aging related, chronic and infectious diseases traditional medicines offer promising alternatives to biomedicine. Bioassays applied in ethnopharmacology represent the molecular characteristics and complexities of the disease or symptoms for which an indigenous drug is used in "traditional" medicine to variable depth and extent. One-dimensional in vitro approaches rarely cope with the complexity of human diseases and ignore the concept of polypharmacological synergies. The recent focus on holistic approaches and systems biology in medicinal plant research represents the trend toward the description and the understanding of complex multi-parameter systems. Ethnopharmacopoeias are non-static cultural constructs shaped by belief and knowledge systems. Intensified globalization and economic liberalism currently accelerates the interchange between local and global pharmacopoeias via international trade, television, the World Wide Web and print media. The increased infiltration of newly generated biomedical knowledge and introduction of "foreign" medicines into local pharmacopoeias leads to syncretic developments and generates a feedback loop. While modern and post-modern cultures and knowledge systems adapt and transform the global impact, they become more relevant for ethnopharmacology. Moreover, what is traditional, alternative or complementary medicine depends on the adopted historic-cultural perspective.
从理解和评价传统草药医学的民族药理学方法的特点是纳入了社会和自然科学。描述当地使用天然药物的人类学实地观察是民族药理学研究的基础。对土生土长药物的多学科科学验证与整个现代社会有关，并有助于维持当地的医疗保健实践。特别是对于与衰老相关的治疗方法、慢性和传染病，传统医学为生物医学提供了有希望的替代方法。应用于民族药理学的生物测定代表了疾病或症状的分子特征和复杂性，而这些疾病或症状是土生土长的药物在“传统”医学中用于治疗的，其深度和程度各不相同。一维的体外方法很少能够应对人类疾病的复杂性，并且忽略了多药理学协同作用的概念。最近在药用植物研究中对整体方法和系统生物学的关注代表了对复杂多参数系统的描述和理解的趋势。民族药理学是由信仰和知识体系塑造的非静态文化结构。全球化和经济自由化的加剧，通过国际贸易、电视、万维网和印刷媒体，加速了地方和全球药理学之间的交流。新生成的生物医学知识的渗透以及“外来”药物引入当地药理学导致了融合发展，并产生了反馈循环。虽然现代和后现代文化和知识体系适应和改变了全球影响，但它们对民族药理学变得更加相关。此外，什么是传统、替代或补充医学取决于所采用的历史文化视角。
