基于中药药性理论的清热药现代研究进展

中药药性理论主要研究中药的性质、性能及其运用规律,是中医药理论体系的重要组成部分。近年来随着中药药性理论相关项目各方面不同层次的探索,在实验性研究方面尤其是围绕某一药性属性的关键要素研究取得了一定的进展。清热药性寒凉,具有清热、泻火、燥湿、解毒、凉血及清虚热等功效,主要适用于外邪传里化热,或热邪直中于里,或阴虚火旺,出现以发热、舌红、脉数为主要表现的里热证,如气分实热证、湿热泻痢和黄疸、痈肿疮疡、温毒发斑、痈肿疮毒以及热病伤阴、阴虚潮热等,临床应用价值高,现代可用于治疗多种感染性疾病和非感染性疾病。因其性偏寒,又常作为中药药性理论和实验研究的代表性药物。本文对近年来清热药在中药药性理论的相关研究(四气、五味、归经、毒性)作一综述,以期较全面地展示清热药的功能属性和作用机制研究现状,系统归纳总结研究方法和结果,为进一步深入开展清热药的现代研究提供启示和参考,也促进中药药性理论现代研究新的飞跃。

Heat-Clearing Herbs Based on Property Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Property, performance and application regularity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important part of TCM theory. During explorations for TCM property theory in all aspects and at different levels in recent years, some experimental studies have made a progress in key elements of properties of a specific herb. Heat-clearing herbs are cold in nature, with efficiencies of clearing heat, resolving toxin, draining fire, cooling blood, drying dampness, clearing deficiency heat, and mainly used to treat such interior heat symptoms as exogenous evil invasion and transformation into heat, direct attack of pathogenic heat, hyperactivity of fire due to Yin deficiency, with main symptoms of fever, red tongue and rapid pulse, particularly damp-heat diarrhea and dysentery, jaundice, welling-abscess swellings and sores, heat toxin with skin eruption, carbuncle toxin and hectic fever due to Yin deficiency. With a high value of clinical application, it can be used to treat many infectious diseases and non-infectious diseases in modern times. Due to its cold property, it is commonly used as a representative herb in TCM property theories and experimental studies. In this paper, we summarized all of studies for property theory of TCM about heat-clearing herbs (four Qi, five flavors, channel entry and toxicity) in recent years, in the hope to reveal the progress of studies for properties and mechanisms of heat-clearing herbs, systematically summarize study methods and results, provide enlightenment and reference for further studies and advance a new leap in modern studies for TCM theory.