Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Mar 3;14(3):46.
doi: 10.3390/md14030046.

Chinese Marine Materia Medica Resources: Status and Potential

Xiu-Mei Fu  1   2 , Meng-Qi Zhang  3   4 , Chang-Lun Shao  5   6 , Guo-Qiang Li  7   8 , Hong Bai  9   10 , Gui-Lin Dai  11 , Qian-Wen Chen  12 , Wei Kong  13 , Xian-Jun Fu  14 , Chang-Yun Wang  15   16
Affiliations

Chinese Marine Materia Medica Resources: Status and Potential

Xiu-Mei Fu et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

Chinese marine materia medica (CMMM) is a vital part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Compared with terrestrial TCM, CMMM, derived from specific marine habitats, possesses peculiar chemical components with unique structures reflecting as potent pharmacological activities, distinct drug properties and functions. Nowadays, CMMM appears to be especially effective in treating such difficult diseases as cancers, diabetes, cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, immunodeficiency diseases and senile dementia, and therefore has become an important medicinal resource for the research and development of new drugs. In recent years, such development has attracted wide attention in the field of medicine. In this study, the CMMM resources in China were systematically investigated and evaluated. It was found that the historic experiences of Chinese people using CMMM have continuously accumulated over a period of more than 3600 years, and that the achievements of the research on modern CMMM are especially outstanding. By June 2015, 725 kinds of CMMMs from Chinese coastal sea areas have been identified and recorded, covering 1552 organisms and minerals. More than 3100 traditional prescriptions containing CMMMs have been imparted and inherited. However, the number of CMMMs is less than the 8188 terrestrial TCMs, from more than 12,100 medicinal terrestrial plants, animals and minerals. In the future, the research and development of CMMM should focus on the channel entries (TCM drug properties), compatibility, effective ingredients, acting mechanisms, drug metabolism and quality standard. This study reveals the high potential of CMMM development.

Keywords: Chinese marine materia medica; drug development; evaluation; investigation; marine medicinal bioresources.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Developmental trend of Chinese marine materia medica (CMMM) in different dynasties of China.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The CMMMs recorded in the Pharmacopoeia of People's Republic of China [1,41].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Records of CMMMs in the past Chinese dynasties and the status of its modern research.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The status of research on the original organisms of CMMMs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Guan H.S., Wang S.G. Chinese Marine Materia Medica. Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers; Shanghai, China: 2009.
    1. Fu X.J., Guan H.S., Wu Q.M., Wang C.Y., Wang Y., Jiang D.Z. Elementary exploration of the origin and development of marine Chinese mteria medica. Chin. J. Med. Hist. 2009;39:168–172. - PubMed
    1. Ireland C.M. Biomedical potential of marine natural products. Mar. Biotechnol. 1993;1:1–43.
    1. Scheuer P.J. Some marine ecological phenomena: Chemical basis and biomedical potential. Science. 1990;248:173–177. doi: 10.1126/science.2183350. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tong X.L., Dong L., Chen L., Zhen Z. Treatment of diabetes using traditional Chinese medicine: Past, present and future. Am. J. Chin. Med. 2012;40:877–886. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X12500656. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources