Trial lecture - time and place
13.06.2024. 10.15. Auditorium 3, Helga Eng
A comparison between TCM, Ayurveda, African, and American traditional medicinal systems - and their importance to modern drug discovery
Conferral summary
Denne avhandlingen beskriver bruken av molekylære og fytokjemiske metoder for autentisering og kvalitetsvurdering av tradisjonell kinesisk medisin (TCM) brukt innen kvinnehelse. Mens TCM har fått økt popularitet over hele verden, er ofte tilberedelsesmetodene uregulerte og ikke-standardiserte i den globale forsyningskjeden for urter. Dette arbeidet viser viktigheten av å bruke komplementære verktøy for riktig autentisering og kvalitetsvurdering av komplekse urteblandinger som brukes som medisin.
Main research findings
This thesis focuses on a combination of authentication methods, including high throughput sequencing-based metabarcoding, chromatography and pharmacological screening for the quality assessment of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) used in women’s healthcare. CHM is an essential component of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). While the use of CHMs has gained popularity worldwide, their preparation methods are often unregulated and non-standardized in the global herbal supply chain. This work demonstrates the importance of using complementary tools for the authentication of complex herbal mixtures like CHMs. Paper I and II introduce various molecular applications used for botanicals. Paper III and IV show strengths and drawbacks of authentication methods for the study of botanical materials and herbal products used in TCM. The results demonstrate that HPTLC in combination with DNA metabarcoding is a valuable authentication tool. In Paper V, TCM preparations were tested on phytoequivalence by combining HPLC with bioassays related to immunological effects. The results give limited information on the efficacy of sample mixtures, revealing that current standardization and quality control procedures for herbal products and TCMs are unsatisfactory and lack integrity to cover aspects of safety, active ingredients, and mechanism of action.