Xi Shengyan, Li Yunhong, Yue Lifeng, Gong Yuewen, Qian Linchao, Liang Tengxiao, Ye Yong'an
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xiang'an Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2020 Oct 22;11:582322. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.582322. eCollection 2020.
Viral pneumonia is one kind of acute respiratory tract infection caused by the virus. There have been many outbreaks of viral pneumonia with high contagiousness and mortality both in China and abroad, such as the great influenza in 1918, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus in 2003, the Influenza A (H1N1) virus in 2009, and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019. These outbreaks and/or pandemic have significant impact on human life, social behaviors, and economic development. Moreover, no specific drug has been developed for these viruses. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays an important role in the treatment of viral pneumonia during these outbreaks especially in SARS and SARS-CoV-2 because studies suggest that TCM formulations may target several aspects of the disease and may have lesser side effects than manufactured pharmaceuticals. In recent years, a lot of clinicians and researchers have made a series of in-depth explorations and investigations on the treatment of viral pneumonia with TCM, which have understood TCM therapeutic mechanisms more specifically and clearly. But critical analysis of this research in addition to further studies are needed to assess the potential of TCM in the treatment of viral pneumonia.
病毒性肺炎是由病毒引起的一种急性呼吸道感染。在国内外，已经发生过多次具有高传染性和高死亡率的病毒性肺炎疫情，如1918年的大流感、2003年的严重急性呼吸综合征（SARS）冠状病毒、2009年的甲型H1N1流感病毒、2012年的中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）以及2019年的严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）。这些疫情和/或大流行对人类生活、社会行为和经济发展产生了重大影响。此外，针对这些病毒尚未研发出特效药物。在这些疫情期间，尤其是在SARS和SARS-CoV-2疫情中，中医药在病毒性肺炎的治疗中发挥了重要作用，因为研究表明，中药制剂可能针对该疾病的多个方面，且副作用可能比制成药更小。近年来，许多临床医生和研究人员对中医药治疗病毒性肺炎进行了一系列深入的探索和研究，从而更具体、更清晰地了解了中医药的治疗机制。但除了进一步的研究外，还需要对这项研究进行批判性分析，以评估中医药在治疗病毒性肺炎方面的潜力。
