China had brilliant achievements in materia medica in ancient times. By the end of16th century, Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica came out, and the development of Materia Medica reached its peak. It will develop slowly in the future. At the beginning of this century, the names of animals and plants in Compendium of Materia Medica and other books were studied with the knowledge of taxonomy. The teaching and research of pharmacognosy in China began in the 1930s (1883 ~ 1960). 1934 Zhao and Xu Bozhen co-edited the first volume of Modern Materialism and Pharmacognosy, 1937 Ye Sanduo co-edited the second volume of Pharmacognosy. These two books were Chinese works introducing modern pharmacognosy at that time, and they were also teaching materials of pharmacognosy course.
After the founding of New China, under the guidance of the Party's policy on traditional Chinese medicine, the cause of traditional Chinese medicine was developed, the pharmacognosy course of the Department of Pharmacy was strengthened, the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and research institutions of traditional Chinese medicine were established in various provinces and cities, and the Chinese medicine room was set up in the Institute of Drug Control, which strengthened teaching, scientific research and quality inspection. In the past 50 years, medical science and technology workers in China have conducted multidisciplinary research on Chinese herbal medicines and made remarkable achievements.
Investigation and arrangement of resources
During the period from1949 to1979, the pharmacognosy research in China focused on the identification and investigation of the resources and experience of Chinese herbal medicines, and successively compiled and published the first set of reference materials for the identification of Chinese herbal medicines (1958), Handbook of Chinese Herbal Medicines (1959) and Yearbook of Traditional Chinese Medicine (65433). Later, from 1970 to 1975, a mass Chinese herbal medicine movement was launched, and medical and health personnel from all over the country went to the countryside to investigate and collect Chinese herbal medicines to prevent and treat diseases for farmers. In this process, hundreds of local Chinese herbal medicine manuals have been compiled; After completing the research, it can prevent and treat diseases for farmers. In this process, hundreds of local Chinese herbal medicine manuals have been compiled; After sorting out and studying, the National Compilation of Chinese Herbal Medicine and its Color Atlas (1975 ~ 1977), Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine (1977) and Annals of Chinese Herbal Medicine (1976, 65438+) were compiled and published. During this period, the objects of investigation and summary expanded from commonly used Chinese medicines to folk medicines, and the number of Chinese herbal medicines increased greatly, and the contents were richer than before. Since then, Xinhua Compendium of Materia Medica (1988, 1990, 199 1), China Materia Medica Catalogue (1988, 1990), and China Ethnic Pharmacology.
1982, the State Council made a decision to systematically investigate and study the resources of traditional Chinese medicine in China, and made a development plan. During the period of 1983 ~ 1987, professional teams were organized throughout the country to carry out the general survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources and achieved fruitful results. 1994 Compilation and publication of China Traditional Chinese Medicine Resources Series. Including China Traditional Chinese Medicine Resources, China Traditional Chinese Medicine Resources Collection, China Traditional Chinese Medicine Division, China Commonly Used Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Medicinal Materials Atlas and China Folk Prescriptions, it is a systematic monograph on traditional Chinese medicine resources and has high reference value.
Through resource investigation and special research, we have basically found out the types, distribution and folk application of natural drugs. There are 12807 known species, of which1146 are plants, 158 1 species are animals, and 80 are minerals, of which 87% are from plants and medicinal plants. In the investigation and research work, many rich sources of new drugs have been found in various places. Such as Radix Arnebiae, Radix Glycyrrhizae, Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae, Ferula Ferulae and Herba Artemisiae Scopariae in Xinjiang, Fructus Lycii and Radix Codonopsis in Qinghai, Rhizoma picrorhizae and Radix et Rhizoma Rhei in Tibet, Artemisia plants in Qinghai and Tibet, Fructus Amomi, Fructus Chebulae, Semen Strychni, Catechu and Aloe in Yunnan, benzoin in Guangxi, Lignum Dalbergiae Odoriferae, Lignum sappan, Rauvolfia root in Guangdong and Guangxi. In addition, the Dioscorea plants used as raw materials for synthesizing steroid hormones and contraceptives were extensively studied, which provided reliable data for pharmaceutical industry.
With the development of research work, the number of medicinal materials included in People's Republic of China (PRC) Pharmacopoeia (China Pharmacopoeia for short) is increasing. China Pharmacopoeia 1953 contains 78 kinds of medicinal materials, while 1963 contains 446 kinds, 1977 contains 882 kinds of Chinese medicinal materials (including minority medicines), Chinese herbal medicine extracts, vegetable oils and some single medicinal preparations, and 1985 contains 765438 kinds. China Pharmacopoeia was published in English from 1993.
Breeding and feeding
After the founding of New China, scientific and technical personnel have conducted in-depth research on the cultivation techniques of some important Chinese herbal medicines. Great progress has been made in the introduction and domestication of medicinal plants. More than 4000 kinds of medicinal plants have been introduced into important botanical gardens and medicinal botanical gardens in China. At present, there are more than 50 kinds of bulk Chinese herbal medicines planted in China. New varieties of Fritillaria thunbergii, Rhizoma Corydalis, Radix Rehmanniae, Evodia rutaecarpa, Herba Menthae, Fructus Lycii, Radix Aconiti Lateralis, Coicis Semen, Lily, Polyporus and Cordyceps were obtained by using biotechnology such as hybridization, mutation, polyploid, in vitro fertilization, protoplast fusion and anther culture. Many important imported medicinal materials have also been successfully introduced and cultivated, such as American ginseng, cardamom, clove, saffron, boat-fruited Sterculia, African Rauvolfia and so on, many of which have reached the scale of large-scale production.
1993, the first medicinal plant germplasm resource bank in China was also established in Zhejiang Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The large-scale cultivation science book "Chinese Medicinal Plant Cultivation" edited by the Institute of Medicinal Plant Resources Development of China Academy of Medical Sciences has been published by China Agricultural Publishing House (199 1).
Some precious animal medicinal materials, such as musk deer, bear, scorpion, clam and turtle, have been studied. Successfully carried out the work of feeding deer, sawing velvet, raising musk deer to extract fragrance, taking gall from live bears and breeding pearls from mussels.
Some modern biotechnology methods are also used, such as tissue culture techniques of ginseng, American ginseng, notoginseng, Arnebia euchroma, corydalis yanhusuo, licorice and anisodamine. For some traditional Chinese medicines from fungi, such as Cordyceps sinensis, Ganoderma lucidum, Armillaria mellea, etc., the fermentation culture technology has been studied and has formed a certain scale of commercial production.
In recent years, research on pollution-free cultivation techniques of Chinese herbal medicines has been carried out, and successful experience has been gained in producing green Chinese herbal medicines such as hawthorn and honeysuckle.
Identification and quality study of traditional Chinese medicine
There are many varieties of traditional Chinese medicine and wide producing areas. Due to the differences in herbal records, regional drug names and usage habits, similar products, substitutes and folk drugs are constantly appearing, and the phenomenon of foreign bodies with the same name and varieties confusion of Chinese herbal medicines is widespread, which directly affects the quality of Chinese herbal medicines. Therefore, it is an important task to systematically sort out the varieties and study the quality of commonly used Chinese herbal medicines with complex sources to ensure and improve the quality of Chinese herbal medicines, promote the standardization of Chinese medicine and develop the cause of Chinese medicine. On the other hand, the comparative study of multi-source medicinal materials can also improve the scientific basis for the development and utilization of new drug sources. During the Sixth Five-Year Plan period (1980 ~ 1985), state administration of traditional chinese medicine listed the systematic study of varieties with the same name as foreign bodies as a bureau-level subject, among which the research on Fritillaria, Flos Lonicerae, Radix et Rhizoma Rhei and Dendrobium has achieved gratifying results. On this basis, increase the research category, expand the depth and breadth of research, and improve the research level. It has been proved that the variety arrangement and quality research of commonly used traditional Chinese medicines are included in the national key scientific and technological project during the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1986 ~ 1990). This project is divided into two collaborative groups, the South and the North, and the Common Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Branch 123 (Special Topics). According to the main contents and technical schemes formulated by * * *, the multi-disciplinary method is adopted to systematically study multi-source Chinese herbal medicines, that is, on the basis of consulting domestic and foreign literature and existing research, the drug sources are investigated nationwide, and the original plant specimens are collected for taxonomic identification; Collect counterpart medicinal materials and commodities for morphological, microscopic and physical and chemical analysis; The chemical constituents and pharmacological effects were studied and the comprehensive quality evaluation was made. After five years of research, it has been completed, and most of the topics have reached the advanced level at home and abroad. The scale, breadth, depth and achievements of this research are unprecedented. The research results have important scientific significance and practical application value for clarifying the confused varieties, improving the identification technology, ensuring the quality of medicinal materials, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of drug use, revising and formulating drug standards, and developing and utilizing new drug sources. This achievement has been published in the monograph "Variety Arrangement and Quality Research of Common Chinese Herbal Medicines".
On the basis of tackling key problems in the Seventh Five-Year Plan, it is demonstrated that the variety arrangement and quality research of commonly used Chinese herbal medicines will continue to be included in the national key scientific and technological projects in the Eighth Five-Year Plan (199 1 ~ 1995), and in-depth systematic research on another 100 commonly used Chinese herbal medicines has been completed, and a monograph will be published soon.
On the basis of the above work, we will continue the standardization research of the Ninth Five-Year Plan scientific and technological key project "Quality Standard of Chinese Herbal Medicines" (1996 ~ 2000), and finally establish the international reference standards for 80 commonly used Chinese herbal medicines. June 5438 +2000 10, and 70 species began again.
Advocating the production and use of local medicinal materials is an effective method for Chinese medicine to control the quality of medicinal materials and ensure clinical efficacy. During the period of 1997, the National Natural Science Foundation listed the systematic study of authentic Chinese medicinal materials as a key topic, and selected seven kinds of medicinal materials recognized as authentic, such as Paeonia lactiflora and Lonicera japonica, as the research objects. The identification characteristics of authentic and non-authentic Chinese medicinal materials from the same species and the relationship between efficacy and quality were studied at the overall level, cellular level and molecular level by using multidisciplinary, multi-index and objective methods. Reveal the natural law of the internal relationship among biodiversity, variability of medicinal parts, DNA polymorphism and ecological environment, and apply modern science and technology and biotechnology to comprehensively study the genuineness of genuine medicinal materials, so as to provide scientific basis for determining the base, intensive and standardized production of genuine medicinal materials. The project will be completed in 2002.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China 65438-0999 listed the research on the regulation mechanism of planting resources in the production of excellent Chinese herbal medicines as a key topic.
At the same time, a large number of research papers have been published in various places, and a variety of traditional Chinese medicines have been investigated from the aspects of resources, characteristics, microscopic identification, physical and chemical identification, etc. (for details, see Xu's series of reviews-the progress of pharmacognosy research in China in recent years).
Study on active components of Chinese herbal medicine
According to incomplete statistics, up to 1994, about 200 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines have been studied in detail in chemistry and pharmacology, and more than 600 kinds of pharmacological active components have been identified.
In recent years, several active components have been isolated from common crude drugs and folk drugs, such as treating Alzheimer's disease, preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, resisting tumors, HIV, hepatitis, antiallergic, lipid peroxidation, lowering blood sugar, stopping bleeding, resisting bacteria, diminishing inflammation and promoting immunity. The study of active components of traditional Chinese medicine is of great significance to clarify the material basis of traditional Chinese medicine treatment, standardization and quality control of traditional Chinese medicine and the development of new drugs.
Study on processing of traditional Chinese medicine
The purpose of traditional Chinese medicine processing is to remove or reduce the side effects of drugs and increase the curative effect of drugs. The processing technology of about 70 kinds of traditional Chinese medicines was studied, and many processing principles were revealed. For example, the attenuation of aconite processing is due to the hydrolysis of diester alkaloids into corresponding monoester alkaloids and amine alcohols. Radix Aconiti Lateralis is a commonly used Chinese medicine. After processing, the toxicity of Radix Aconiti Lateralis is greatly reduced, and its effective components which have effects on cardiovascular system can play an effective role. For example, many traditional Chinese medicines containing alkaloids are often processed with vinegar, because alkali and acid neutralize to form alkaloid salts, which can increase water solubility and increase the curative effect of decoction.
At present, more than 500 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine processing methods have been sorted out and summarized, and monographs such as "Integration of Chinese Medicine Processing Experience" and "Compilation of Chinese Medicine Processing Materials in Past Dynasties" have been compiled and published.
In recent years, under the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine theory, by studying the processing principle of traditional Chinese medicine and comparing the changes of effective components and pharmacological effects before and after processing, it is not only meaningful to reform the processing technology and formulate the processing quality standard, but also meaningful to gradually establish new branches of traditional Chinese medicine processing science such as clinical processing science, processing technology science, processing chemistry and processing pharmacology, and promote the development and perfection of traditional Chinese medicine processing science.
Application of modern biotechnology in pharmacognosy research
The application of DNA molecular marker technology in the quality research of traditional Chinese medicine is only in recent four or five years. 1994 Shao laboratory of the Chinese University of Hong Kong reported for the first time that AP-PCR was used to identify ginseng and American ginseng, and RAPD was used to identify ginseng and its adulterants the following year. Subsequently, researchers from China, Hongkong, Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province Province, Japanese and other countries and regions have conducted this research one after another. The application mainly includes the following aspects: First, the application of DNA molecular marker technology in plant evolution, classification and identification. The varieties studied are: 4 species of licorice (RAPD), 7 species of clematis (RAPD), 8 species of Indigofera (RAPD), 8 species of Epimedium (RAPD and PCR-RFLP) and 0/4 species of Astragalus/Kloc (PCR-RFLP). The second is the application of DNA molecular marker technology in the identification of Chinese herbal medicines. The varieties studied are: ginseng, American ginseng and its counterfeits (RAPD, sequencing and probe), Gentiana scabra and its counterfeits (RAPD), snake (RAPD), hippocampus (sequencing), tortoise plastron, turtle shell (sequencing), licorice (RAPD), Endothelium Corneum Gigeriae Galli (sequencing) and Zihe. Thirdly, the application of DNA molecular markers in the study of intraspecific variation, including Cordyceps sinensis (RAPD), Atractylodes lancea, Atractylodes macrocephala (RAPD), Angelica sinensis (sequencing) and so on.
New drug development
In recent years, about 200 new drugs have been directly or indirectly developed from traditional Chinese medicine. Nearly half of them are single traditional Chinese medicine or its effective components, derivatives of effective components or effective components of traditional Chinese medicine, or even the whole extract of traditional Chinese medicine; More than half of them are new drugs developed by traditional Chinese medicine compound.
Marine drug research
The ocean is the birthplace of life, with complex and diverse species, including about 500,000 kinds of animals and13,000 kinds of plants, accounting for about 80% of the earth's resources, and it is a treasure to be developed. For example, 43 new compounds were found in 10 coral and 39 new compounds were found in 10 sponge. Marine life contains novel chemical composition and complex structure, and often has strong special biological activity, which is the raw material basis for human beings to develop new drugs in the future.
In addition, many achievements have been made in the research, development and utilization of ethnic medicine. China is a multi-ethnic country, and all ethnic groups have their own long history and made their own special contributions to human medicine (see Chapter 11 of the textbook for details).
As mentioned above, since the founding of New China, especially during the period of 10, pharmacognosy in China has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results. However, the research of traditional Chinese medicine is a complex system engineering, involving a wide range of disciplines, great difficulty and long cycle. Need multi-sectoral, multi-industry, multi-disciplinary, multi-level and multi-directional cooperation, division of labor and cooperation. According to the guiding ideology that science and technology are the primary productive forces, under the premise of highlighting and developing the traditional characteristics and advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, relying on modern science and technology, we will carry out systematic research on traditional Chinese medicine, develop more traditional Chinese medicines in the near future, legally enter the European and American international markets, and make due contributions to human health.