NEWS doi: 10.12032/TMR20200204158

Traditional Chinese medicine for novel coronavirus pneumonia treatment: main force or supplement?

Mi Li1, Xue Yang2, Kai Li1*, Yi-Qiang Xie1*

1School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Medical University, 571199, . 2Department of Medical Oncology, Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China.

*Corresponding to: Kai Li, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hainan Medical University, No.3 Xueyuan Road, Longhua District, Haikou 571199, China. E-mail: [email protected]. Yi-Qiang Xie, School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hainan Medical University, No.3 Xueyuan Road, Longhua District, Haikou 571199, China. E-mail: [email protected].

Chinese and English contrastive vocabulary:

Huang Di Nei Jing: Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor; Shanghan Zabing Lun: Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases; Zhou Hou Bei Ji Fang: Handy Therapies for Emergencies; Dou Ke Jin Jing Fu Ji Jie: Smallpox Treatments Collection.

The nationwide death toll from the coronavirus plan (trial version 4th) for novel coronavirus outbreak in China has risen to 491, with nearly pneumonia on January 27, 2020, providing specific 24,363 individuals infected, according to official recommendations for the treatment and prevention of figures released on February 5, 2020 [1]. With no the infection using TCM. Academician Boli, proven drugs to treat the infection caused by the the President of the Tianjin University of Traditional deadly coronavirus, China’s top health organization Chinese Medicine, stated the following in an has advised hospitals to use various treatments, interview with Xinhua News Agency: “Chinese including traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and medicine plays an all-round role throughout the artificial lungs, to tackle it [2]. treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia, but I still The National Health Commission of the People's advocate integrated Chinese and Western medicine” Republic of China and the National Administration [3]. However, interestingly, on the same day, the of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People's famous The New York Times put forward a Republic of China issued a diagnosis and treatment contrasting view on the use of TCM for the treatment

Submit a manuscript: https://www.tmrjournals.com/tmr TMR | March 2020 | vol. 5 | no. 2 | 62 doi: 10.12032/TMR20200204158 NEWS of this infection. The report quoted the opinion of “National Annual Report on Adverse Drug Reaction Dominic Dwyer, a medical virologist at the Monitoring (2014),” adverse drug reaction due to University of Sydney, who said, “There has never Shuanghuanglian oral liquid was ranked among the been a good antiviral agent, so that means that people top five adverse drug reactions caused by oral would try things that have some effect. But there’s preparations of proprietary Chinese medicines [13]. no evidence of significant benefits with any antiviral At present, Shuanghuanglian oral liquid is being drugs or TCM” [4]. clinically studied in the Shanghai Public Health Infectious diseases have plagued China for a long Clinical Center and Tongji Hospital, which is time, and TCM has been used against these diseases affiliated to the Huazhong University of Science and since ages. In ancient Chinese medical book Huang Technology [14]. Di Nei Jing (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor), methods and drugs (Xiao Jin Pill) for preventing References plague have been mentioned [5]. In Shanghan Zabing Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases), 1. People.cn, dxy [Internet]. Map of “novel written during the period of the Eastern Han dynasty coronavirus pneumonia” [cited 2020 February (the third century C.E.), the concept of Warm disease 5]. Available from: (plague) has been proposed and several prescriptions https://ncov.dxy.cn/ncovh5/view/pneumonia_pe for Warm diseases have been mentioned [6]. In Zhou opleapp?from=timeline&isappinstalled=0 Hou Bei Ji Fang (Handy Therapies for Emergencies, 2. Lo KL [Internet]. The coronavirus has no cure, 284 C.E.–354 C.E.), written by an Eastern Jin but here’s some treatment advice [cited 2020 dynasty physician Ge Hong, a treatment method for January 31]. Available from: malaria using Qinghao (Artemisiae Annuae Herba) https://www.inkstonenews.com/health/traditiona has been mentioned: “A handful of Qinghao l-chinese-medicine-and-artificial-lungs-included (Artemisiae Annuae Herba), soaked in 2 liters of -coronavirus-treatment-guidelines/article/30474 water and ground into juice, then take the juice for 86 oral use.” This treatment recommendation inspired 3. Xinhua net [Internet]. Interview with Tu Youyou’s notion that high temperatures must be academician [cited 2020 January avoided in the extraction process of bioactive plant 31]. Available from: compounds, thus, a low-boiling-point solvent http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2020-01-30/doc-iim extraction method is now used in modern xyqvy9061937.shtml applications [7, 8]. In Dou Ke Jin Jing Fu Ji Jie 4. Wee SL [Internet]. What if we all get sick? (Smallpox Treatments Collection, 1727 C.E.), it was Coronavirus Strains China's Health System clearly mentioned that the vaccination methods [cited 2020 January 31]. Available from: originated during the Longqing emperor period of the https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/world/asi Ming Dynasty (1567 C.E.–1572 C.E.), furthermore, a/27china-coronavirus-health.html Huang Baijia (the son of the Ming dynasty’s famous 5. Huang Di Nei Jing. Ancient Books Publishing thinker Huang Zongxi) wrote that a man named Fu House of Chinese Medicine, 2008. (Chinese) Sichuan was known for his vaccination technique [9]. 6. Zhang ZJ. Shang Han Za Bing Lun. Ancient During the early Qing dynasty (1636 C.E.–1722 Books Publishing House of Chinese Medicine, C.E.), the Chinese population plummeted due to a 2017. (Chinese) smallpox epidemic [10]. Feng (hemiplegic paralysis), 7. The Nobel Prize [Internet]. Tu Youyou [cited Lao (tuberculosis), Gu (cirrhosis ascites), Ge 2020 January 31]. Available from: (esophageal cancer) are known as the four major https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/201 incurable diseases in TCM theory. Great writer Lu 5/tu/facts/ Xun recorded in the article Father’s Disease that his 8. Ge H. Zhou Hou Bei Ji Fang. Tianjin Science father died of cirrhosis and ascites, the doctor at that and Technology Publishing House, 2011. time used broken drumhead (In Chinese, the (Chinese) pronunciations of drum and Gu are same) in the 9. Medical encyclopedia [Internet]. Dou Ke Jin prescription, and Lu Xun’s father eventually died Jing Fu Ji Jie [cited 2020 January 31]. Available without any relief [11]. from: http://www.a-hospital.com/w/%e7%97%a On January 31, 2020, Xinhua Perspectives learned 7%e7%97%98%e9%9b%86%e8%a7%a3 from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, 10. Gao Y. Prevention and influence of smallpox in Chinese Academy of Science, that a joint study by the Qing Dynasty. Mongolian University, 2005. this institute and the Virus Institute has found (Chinese) that the proprietary Chinese medicine Shuanghuanglian oral liquid can inhibit the new 11. Lu Xun. Father’s disease-life is a moment. coronavirus, but the study does not include any Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 2017. animal experiments [12]. In addition, in the (Chinese) TMR | March 2020 | vol. 5 | no. 2 | 63 Submit a manuscript: https://www.tmrjournals.com/tmr NEWS doi: 10.12032/TMR20200204158 12. Xinhua Perspectives [Internet]. Shuanghuanglian oral liquid can inhibit the new coronavirus [cited 2020 January 31]. http://3g.163.com/news/article/F49EQ5QP0550 04XG.html 13. National Food and Drug Administration website. National Annual Report on Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring (2014). Shanghai Med 2015: 87–88. (Chinese) 14. Fenghuang net [Internet]. Can Shuanghuanglian oral liquid cure coronavirus pneumonia? Research institutions: follow the results of clinical studies [cited 2020 January 31]. Available from: http://finance.ifeng.com/c/7thfDoFOmO4

Citation: Mi Li, Xue Yang, Kai Li. Traditional Chinese medicine for coronavirus pneumonia treatment: main force or supplement? Traditional Medicine Research 2020, 5 (2): 62–64.

Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Executive Editor: Nuo-Xi Pi.

Submitted: 31 January 2020 Accepted: 6 February 2020 Online: 6 February 2020

Submit a manuscript: https://www.tmrjournals.com/tmr TMR | March 2020 | vol. 5 | no. 2 | 64