A study of toxicogenomics and its current applications in the safety of traditional Chinese medicine

Abstract

[Abstract]: Continuous advances in “omics” technologies have brought toxicogenomics into sharp focus in the medical community. Toxicogenomics has been increasingly utilized in studies of the safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Toxicogenomic technology, which assesses the systematic changes of the body upon exposure to toxins at the genome-wide level, has been extensively adopted in studies that are concerned with identifying toxicity biomarkers and investigating mechanisms and predictions of toxicity. This study concisely summarizes the present status of toxicogenomics and highlights its current applications in TCM safety by discussing the mechanism of TCM toxicity, the identification of potential biomarkers studies on of toxicity, and the examination of toxicity dynamics pertinent to drug compatibility.

Keywords

• Toxicogenomics
• Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)
• Gene chip
• Database
• Safety assessment
• Toxicology