School of Pharmacy, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Drug Delivery System and Biotech Drugs in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Evaluation (Yantai University), Ministry of Education, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Shandong Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes, Shandong Research Center for Coastal Environmental Engineering and Technology, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China.
Molecules. 2022 Dec 30;28(1):301. doi: 10.3390/molecules28010301.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the most internationally competitive industries. In the context of TCM modernization and internationalization, TCM-related research studies have entered a fast track of development. At the same time, research of TCM is also faced with challenges, such as matrix complexity, component diversity and low level of active components. As an interdisciplinary technology, molecular imprinting technology (MIT) has gained popularity in TCM study, owing to the produced molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) possessing the unique features of structure predictability, recognition specificity and application universality, as well as physical robustness, thermal stability, low cost and easy preparation. Herein, we comprehensively review the recent advances of MIT for TCM studies since 2017, focusing on two main aspects including extraction/separation and purification and detection of active components, and identification analysis of hazardous components. The fundamentals of MIT are briefly outlined and emerging preparation techniques for MIPs applied in TCM are highlighted, such as surface imprinting, nanoimprinting and multitemplate and multifunctional monomer imprinting. Then, applications of MIPs in common active components research including flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides and polyphenols, etc. are respectively summarized, followed by screening and enantioseparation. Related identification detection of hazardous components from TCM itself, illegal addition, or pollution residues (e.g., heavy metals, pesticides) are discussed. Moreover, the applications of MIT in new formulation of TCM, chiral drug resolution and detection of growing environment are summarized. Finally, we propose some issues still to be solved and future research directions to be expected of MIT for TCM studies.
中医药是最具国际竞争力的产业之一。在中医药现代化和国际化的背景下，中医药相关研究进入了快速发展的轨道。与此同时，中医药研究也面临着一些挑战，如基质复杂性、成分多样性和低水平的有效成分。作为一门交叉学科技术，分子印迹技术（MIT）在中医药研究中得到了广泛的关注，因为所制备的分子印迹聚合物（MIPs）具有结构可预测性、识别特异性和应用通用性以及物理稳健性、热稳定性、低成本和易于制备等独特特点。在此，我们全面综述了 2017 年以来 MIT 在中医药研究中的最新进展，重点介绍了两个主要方面，即提取/分离和纯化以及活性成分的检测，以及有害成分的识别分析。简要概述了 MIT 的基本原理，并强调了应用于中医药的新兴 MIPs 制备技术，如表面印迹、纳米印迹和多模板和多功能单体印迹。然后，分别总结了 MIPs 在常见活性成分研究中的应用，包括黄酮类、生物碱、萜类、糖苷类和多酚类等，随后进行了筛选和对映体分离。讨论了从中成药本身、非法添加物或污染残留（如重金属、农药）中筛选和鉴定有害成分的相关识别检测。此外，还总结了 MIT 在中药新制剂、手性药物拆分和检测生长环境中的应用。最后，我们提出了一些仍需解决的问题，并对未来 MIT 在中医药研究中的预期研究方向进行了展望。
