Biochemical biomarkers for the toxicity induced by traditional Chinese medicine: a review update

Xinnan Gu; Yu Zou; Zhenlin Huang; Mengjuan Wei; Lili Ji

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2024.119315

Biochemical biomarkers for the toxicity induced by traditional Chinese medicine: a review update

J Ethnopharmacol. 2025 Jan 2:119315. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2024.119315. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xinnan Gu¹, Yu Zou², Zhenlin Huang¹, Mengjuan Wei³, Lili Ji⁴

Affiliations

¹ The MOE Key Laboratory for Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines and The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
² School of Basic Medical Science of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
³ The MOE Key Laboratory for Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines and The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China; Shanghai Academy of International Standardization for Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ The MOE Key Laboratory for Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines and The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39755183
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2024.119315

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in China for disease treatment and has become a valuable resource for drug development due to its high efficacy and low risk of side-effects. However, growing toxicity reports has garnered significant global attention. A major challenge in addressing TCM-induced toxicity is lack of specific and sensitive biomarkers for diagnosing and predicting its toxicity. Identifying toxicological biomarkers reflecting TCM-induced toxicity is crucial for timely detection and intervention, and provides significant clues for elucidating the underlying toxic mechanism and key target.

Aim of the study: This article aims to summarize and classify some potential toxicological biomarkers for side-effects induced by TCM and its contained phytochemical ingredients.

Methods: The keywords "biomarkers", "traditional Chinese medicine", "Chinese herb", "phytochemical ingredient", "natural product", "toxicity", "hepatotoxicity", "nephrotoxicity", "cardiotoxicity" were used to collect relevant information from literature databases (including PubMed, Web of Science) up to October, 2024.

Results: Research has indicated that more sensitive and specific biomarkers are needed for reflecting TCM's side-effects. PA-protein adducts and AA-DNA adducts could be served as diagnostic biomarkers for hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity induced by TCM containing PA and AA, respectively. Multiple miRNAs like miRNA-122-3p, miRNA-5099, and miRNA-21-3p, as well as some endogenous metabolites such as hypoxanthine, choline, and L-valine could be potential biomarkers associated with TCM-induced hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and cardiotoxicity.

Conclusion: In this review, different research demonstrates that DNA/protein-adducts, noncoding RNAs, endogenous metabolites and so on show the potential to be new early-warning biomarkers for TCM-induced toxicity with high specificity and sensitivity.

Keywords: phytochemical ingredients; side-effects; toxicological biomarkers; traditional Chinese medicine.

Publication types

Review