The Use of Omic Technologies Applied to Traditional Chinese Medicine Research

Table 2

Examples of application of omic approaches in TCM research per area of study in systems biology.

Level in system biology	Omic approach	Disease/health condition	Results	Ref.
DNA	Genomics	Cancer	The different signaling pathways affected by the compound Kushen injection, a Chinese formula used for the treatment of different types of cancer, that contribute to its antitumor activity were identified including cell proliferation and apoptosis	[68]
	Epigenomics	Cancer	Gene expression modulatory pathways were elucidated in cancer models of naturally occurring compounds such as curcumin isolated from turmeric, epigallocatechin-3-gallate which is a component of green tea, genistein isolated from soy, isothiocyanates present in broccoli, sprouts, and wasabi, lycopene which is found in tomatoes, and resveratrol present in grapes, wines, and eucalyptus	[17]
	Metagenomics	Gut microflora disturbances	The Chinese formula containing Radix ginseng, Rhizoma atractylodis macrocephalae, Poria and Radix glycyrrhizae traditionally used in the treatment of spleen deficiency showed restoring effects of the gut ecosystem by modulation of the gut microflora composition and structure of the intestinal mucosa	[18]
RNA	Transcriptomics	Liver diseases	Using microarray analysis, it was observed that the components of the three yellows heart-draining decoction (San-Huang-Xie-Xin-Tang) exert their liver protective activity by acting on the antiproliferation activity modulated by P53 and DNA damage signaling cascade	[69]
Protein	Proteomics	Leukemia	The Chinese medicine Patrinia heterophylla, used as an antitumor herb, affected the regulation of proteins involved in energy metabolism, oxidative stress, apoptosis, signal transduction, differential induction, and protein biosynthesis which give insights into the antitumor mechanism of action of this herb on leukemia K562 cells	[70]
Metabolite	Metabolomics	Diabetes type 2	Berberine, a compound isolated from the Chinese herb Coptis chinensis, showed to downregulate high levels of 13 free fatty acids in patients with diabetes type 2 and dyslipidemia. A better understanding of the signaling pathways involved in the mechanism of action of berberine including fatty acid, insulin resistance, and glucose pathways was elucidated using metabolomic analysis	[70]
	Toxicometabolomics	Nephrotoxicity induced by aristolochic acid (compound widely present in botanicals)	The mechanism of toxicity of aristolochic acid was elucidated and it involved direct cytotoxic effect and inhibition of the enzyme phospholipase A2 which renal function leading to renal failure	[39]
	Lipidomics	Hyperlipidemia	Poria cocos, a medicinal fungus used in TCM, induced positive changes in the fatty acid and sterol profile in an animal model for hyperlipidemia. Also, the signaling pathways affected by Poria cocos were identified using lipidomic analysis	[71]
	Phytochemomics	Cancer	The antioxidant capacity of 7S and its deglycosylated form D7S soy protein was evaluated. Both peptides showed antioxidant activity against free radicals and showed the effect on proliferation, oxidative status, and differentiation of H-Caco-2 cells	[72]
	Chinmedomics	Liver disorders	The Chinese formulae Liu Wei Di Huang Wan improved the restoration of the metabolic profile that was disturbed as a result of inflammation processes	[73]