In vivo metabolism of chemical constituents of traditional Chinese Materia Medica: research and discussion
Traditional Chinese Materia Medica (TCMM) has a long history for its application in treating diseases, and has been proved in clinic for its efficacies. In the most cases, these medicines are taken orally, and the oral bioavailabilities of their chemical constituents are generally poor, and one of the most important causes is that the chemical constituents are biotransformed in gastrointestinal tract or in liver due to the in vivo chemical and biological circumstances. Since the pharmacological effects are considered to be derived from the absorbed chemical substances, we believe some biotransformed products might play an important role for the effectiveness of TCMM. Although the study on chemical constituents of TCMM has made significant achievements in the past three decades, the study on in vivo metabolism of TCMM constituents has still been in slow progress. In order to promote the research progress in this field, this paper will give some suggestions and ideas based on the current research situation, and some examples are presented to reveal the role of in vivo metabolism of chemical constituents in clarifying effective substance of TCMM.