The Underlying Molecular Mechanisms Involved in Traditional Chinese Medicine Smilax china L. for the Treatment of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Figure 1

Effects of SCL on PID from view point of traditional Chinese medicine. From the theoretical perspective of TCM, the left and right circles represent the development process from physiological state of human (arrows of five phases are of the same size) to pathological state of PID patients (fire phase increased and water phase decreased). And the main interfering process of SCL against PID is between two circles. Above all, the internal pathogenesis of PID is the disharmony of yin-yang (a general term for all kinds of pathological changes due to imbalance and incoordination of yin and yang) and insufficiency of healthy qi (a collective designation for all normal functions of the human body and the abilities to maintain health, including the abilities of self-regulation and adaptation), and the external is that the dampness-heat and heat toxin invaded the thoroughfare and conception vessels, uterus, and uterine vessels. It caused blood blockage and abdominal pain. Hence, the core excitation of PID onset is the blood stasis induced by dampness-heat.