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. 2023 Apr 3:30:e2023010.
doi: 10.1590/S0104-59702023000100010en. eCollection 2023.

Discovery of drugs to combat covid-19 inspired by traditional Chinese medicine

Jianan Huang  1
Affiliations

Discovery of drugs to combat covid-19 inspired by traditional Chinese medicine

Jianan Huang. Hist Cienc Saude Manguinhos. .

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Contributions from traditional knowledge and history have proven useful in recent years to advance drug discovery. In response to the emergence of covid-19, scientists revisited traditional Chinese medicine. This source of inspiration for drugs to treat this new disease is described here at three different levels: traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, traditional Chinese medical formulas, and traditional Chinese medical texts. Drug discovery inspired by traditional Chinese medicine still faces serious resistance for various reasons, including its system of formulas and clinical trial design. A perspective that includes related issues would benefit the reasonable application of traditional knowledge in drug research and development.

Las contribuciones del conocimiento tradicional y la historia han demostrado ser útiles en los últimos años para avanzar en el descubrimiento de los medicamentos. En respuesta a la aparición de covid-19, los científicos revisaron la medicina tradicional china. Esta fuente de inspiración de los medicamentos para tratar esta nueva enfermedad se describe aquí en tres niveles diferentes: hierbas medicinales chinas tradicionales, fórmulas médicas chinas tradicionales y textos médicos chinos tradicionales. El descubrimiento de fármacos inspirado en la medicina tradicional china aún enfrenta serias resistencias por varias razones, incluido su sistema de fórmulas y el diseño de ensayos clínicos. Una perspectiva que incluya cuestiones conexas beneficiaría la aplicación razonable de los conocimientos tradicionales en la investigación y el desarrollo de fármacos.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Three heterogeneous levels of covid-19 drug discovery inspired by TCM (Source: Web of Science; access on: 30 June 2022)
Figure 2
Figure 2. A landscape of drug pipelines inspired by traditional Chinese medicine
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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