Mechanism and Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Against Obesity: Prevention and Treatment Strategies
In the last few decades, the incidences of obesity and related metabolic disorders worldwide have increased dramatically. Major pathophysiology of obesity is termed “lipotoxicity” in modern western medicine (MWM) or “dampness-heat” in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “Dampness-heat” is a very com...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Pharmacology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.615895/full |
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| author | Chang-hua Zhang Jun-qing Sheng Wei-hua Xie Xiao-quan Luo Ya-nan Xue Guo-Liang Xu Chen Chen |
| author_facet | Chang-hua Zhang Jun-qing Sheng Wei-hua Xie Xiao-quan Luo Ya-nan Xue Guo-Liang Xu Chen Chen |
| author_sort | Chang-hua Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the last few decades, the incidences of obesity and related metabolic disorders worldwide have increased dramatically. Major pathophysiology of obesity is termed “lipotoxicity” in modern western medicine (MWM) or “dampness-heat” in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “Dampness-heat” is a very common and critically important syndrome to guild clinical treatment in TCM. However, the pathogenesis of obesity in TCM is not fully clarified, especially by MWM theories compared to TCM. In this review, the mechanism underlying the action of TCM in the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders was thoroughly discussed, and prevention and treatment strategies were proposed accordingly. Hypoxia and inflammation caused by lipotoxicity exist in obesity and are key pathophysiological characteristics of “dampness-heat” syndrome in TCM. “Dampness-heat” is prevalent in chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, prone to insulin resistance (IR), and causes variant metabolic disorders. In particular, the MWM theories of hypoxia and inflammation were applied to explain the “dampness-heat” syndrome of TCM, and we summarized and proposed the pathological path of obesity: lipotoxicity, hypoxia or chronic low-grade inflammation, IR, and metabolic disorders. This provides significant enrichment to the scientific connotation of TCM theories and promotes the modernization of TCM. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T00:16:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-419b6a79268f4fb08f8c3155ba7ba0fc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1663-9812 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T00:16:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Pharmacology |
| spelling | doaj.art-419b6a79268f4fb08f8c3155ba7ba0fc2022-12-21T23:25:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pharmacology1663-98122021-03-011210.3389/fphar.2021.615895615895Mechanism and Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Against Obesity: Prevention and Treatment StrategiesChang-hua Zhang0Jun-qing Sheng1Wei-hua Xie2Xiao-quan Luo3Ya-nan Xue4Guo-Liang Xu5Chen Chen6College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaCollege of Life Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, ChinaCollege of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaExperimental Animal Science and Technology Center of TCM, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaCollege of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaResearch Center for Differentiation and Development of Basic Theory of TCM, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, ChinaSchool of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaIn the last few decades, the incidences of obesity and related metabolic disorders worldwide have increased dramatically. Major pathophysiology of obesity is termed “lipotoxicity” in modern western medicine (MWM) or “dampness-heat” in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “Dampness-heat” is a very common and critically important syndrome to guild clinical treatment in TCM. However, the pathogenesis of obesity in TCM is not fully clarified, especially by MWM theories compared to TCM. In this review, the mechanism underlying the action of TCM in the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders was thoroughly discussed, and prevention and treatment strategies were proposed accordingly. Hypoxia and inflammation caused by lipotoxicity exist in obesity and are key pathophysiological characteristics of “dampness-heat” syndrome in TCM. “Dampness-heat” is prevalent in chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, prone to insulin resistance (IR), and causes variant metabolic disorders. In particular, the MWM theories of hypoxia and inflammation were applied to explain the “dampness-heat” syndrome of TCM, and we summarized and proposed the pathological path of obesity: lipotoxicity, hypoxia or chronic low-grade inflammation, IR, and metabolic disorders. This provides significant enrichment to the scientific connotation of TCM theories and promotes the modernization of TCM.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.615895/fulltraditional Chinese medicinemetabolic disordersinflammationdampness-heat syndromehypoxiaobesity |
| spellingShingle | Chang-hua Zhang Jun-qing Sheng Wei-hua Xie Xiao-quan Luo Ya-nan Xue Guo-Liang Xu Chen Chen Mechanism and Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Against Obesity: Prevention and Treatment Strategies Frontiers in Pharmacology traditional Chinese medicine metabolic disorders inflammation dampness-heat syndrome hypoxia obesity |
| title | Mechanism and Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Against Obesity: Prevention and Treatment Strategies |
| title_full | Mechanism and Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Against Obesity: Prevention and Treatment Strategies |
| title_fullStr | Mechanism and Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Against Obesity: Prevention and Treatment Strategies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mechanism and Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Against Obesity: Prevention and Treatment Strategies |
| title_short | Mechanism and Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Against Obesity: Prevention and Treatment Strategies |
| title_sort | mechanism and basis of traditional chinese medicine against obesity prevention and treatment strategies |
| topic | traditional Chinese medicine metabolic disorders inflammation dampness-heat syndrome hypoxia obesity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.615895/full |
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