Recent pharmaceutical evidence on the compatibility rationality of traditional Chinese medicine

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Chinese herbs have been used in China for thousands of years and are also becoming popular in Western medicine. Formulae of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which contain two or more herbs, can often obtain better curative efficacies and fewer side effects than single herbs. Though there are many reports on pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of TCM, there remains a serious lack of summarization and systemic analyses of these reported data to help uncover the compatibility rationale of TCM. This review therefore aims to provide such an overview mainly based on the reports published in the last decade. It could be served as an informative reference for researchers interested in compound prescriptions and holistic therapies. Materials and methods: Relevant information was collected from various resources, including books on Chinese herbs, China Knowledge Resource Integrated (CNKI), and international databases, such as Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. Results: Thirty-six relevant TCM formulae were collected to illustrate the compatibility rationality of TCM from the perspective of pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, and/or pharmacodynamics. Conclusions: Compatibility is a key characteristic of multi-herb prescriptions. It often results in the change of the therapeutic material basis and, thus, produces the effect of reducing toxicity and/or increasing curative efficacy.