[Combination of effective components, the new pattern of drugs derived from modern Chinese herbal medicine]

The thinking of research on developing Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has turned from the traditional exploration for active ingredients to develop microcosmic compound drug based on TCM and/or modern medical theories, which leads to the emerge of combination of effective components (CEC), a new pattern of developing modern Chinese herbal medicine. Meanwhile its researching targets and methods, including objectivization of treated diseases, optimization of compatibility proportion, standardization of component types, definition of synergistic and antagonistic effects, and minimization of toxic and side effects, have also been renewed. The existent problems in need of improvement were put forward on the basis of current researching situation of CEC pattern in order to construct new drugs, enrich the theoretical connotation of TCM and promote the process of TCM modernization.