Herbal medicine research in Taiwan

In a collective effort to upgrade and integrate Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) research, development and application, various national research centers and program projects were set up in Taiwan and reasonable successes have been achieved. A brief introduction and snap shots of these programs will be presented. As an example of TCM R&D in Taiwan, the research program at Academia Sinica will be examined in more detail. Cross-talk, collaborating research laboratories have since established theme projects and defined experimental systems for anti-inflammation and immuno-modulation studies. These include investigations on T-cells, dendritic cells, tumor cell-related immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory bioactivities in response to phytocompounds/botanical substances extracted from Chinese or Western medicinal plants including Anoectochilus, Echinacea, Bidens and Wedelia plants. Potential chemoprevention and anti-tumor activities of these phytoextracts/phytochemicals (e.g., shikonin, [BF(S+L)Ep], cytopiloyne, Wedelia Chinensis) have been investigated in breast and prostate tumor systems obtaining encouraging results. Functional genomics, proteomics and metabolomics studies have also yielded significant and interesting findings. Experimental approaches using clinically-relevant in vivo and ex vivo study systems are being evaluated for translation of research findings into medical and biotechnological applications. With TCM and medicinal plant research infrastructure outlined above, our highest priority for future R&D in Taiwan is to initiate, establish and optimize international research collaboration: research foci of such interest will be contemplated.

Acknowledgements: Agriculture Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. National Science Council, Taiwan.