Traditional Medicine Collection Tracking System (TM-CTS): a database for ethnobotanically driven drug-discovery
Eric S J Harris1, Sean D Erickson, Andrew N Tolopko
1Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA. eharris@fas.harvard.edu
Journal of Ethnopharmacology
|March 23, 2011
Summary
A new Traditional Medicine Collection Tracking System (TM-CTS) organizes ethnobotanical data for drug discovery. This open-source system supports Traditional Chinese Medicinal plant evaluation and natural product research.
Area of Science:
- Ethnobotany
- Pharmacology
- Database Management
Background:
- Ethnobotanical drug discovery requires comprehensive data management from plant collection to chemical analysis.
- Traditional Chinese Medicinal plants are a focus for systematic evaluation in international collaborative projects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and implement the Traditional Medicine Collection Tracking System (TM-CTS) for organizing ethnobotanical data.
- To support an international project focused on evaluating Traditional Chinese Medicinal plants.
Main Methods:
- The TM-CTS was developed using domain-driven design principles.
- Implementation involved Java, Hibernate, PostgreSQL, BIRT, and Apache Tomcat.
- A web-based application provides reporting capabilities.
Main Results:
- The TM-CTS database schema includes over 70 data types and 500 fields.
- Unique features support botanical collection, processing, quality control, extraction, and historical use data.
- The system accommodates multilingual data and integrates with high-throughput screening databases.
Conclusions:
- The TM-CTS database system is designed to facilitate the evaluation of Chinese medicinal plant bioactivity.
- The open-source software is freely available and adaptable for other ethnobotanical drug discovery programs.
Related Concept Videos
01:16Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Overview and Classification
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) is a clinical practice that measures specific drug levels in a patient's blood at designated intervals to ensure the drug concentration stays within a therapeutic range. This monitoring is crucial for optimizing individual dosage regimens, enhancing therapeutic efficacy, and minimizing drug-related toxicity. TDM is vital for drugs with narrow therapeutic windows, significant variability in pharmacokinetics, and a clear correlation between plasma levels and...
01:26Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Drug Analysis Methods
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) is a clinical practice that measures specific drug levels in a patient's blood or body tissues to tailor drug therapy effectively. This monitoring is critical for managing drugs with narrow therapeutic indices like digoxin and phenytoin, ensuring they are both safe and effective. For instance, monitoring theophylline levels in asthma patients involves precision and sensitivity to adjust doses according to individual responses to therapy, ensuring efficacy and...
01:29Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Affecting Factors
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) is the clinical practice of measuring specific drug levels in a patient's blood or body tissues to manage and optimize therapy. TDM is crucial for drugs with narrow therapeutic windows, like warfarin and phenytoin, where incorrect doses can lead to treatment failure or severe side effects. This monitoring ensures the dosage administered is within a safe and effective range. The factors affecting therapeutic drug monitoring include:Patient-Specific Factors:a.
01:26Drug Discovery: Overview
Drug discovery is a multifaceted process involving extensive screening, testing, and optimization of lead compounds to identify potential new drugs for therapeutic use. It combines several approaches, including screening large numbers of natural products, chemical modification of known active molecules, identification of new drug targets, and rational design based on biological mechanisms and drug-receptor structure. These approaches are carried out in both academic research laboratories and...
01:24Microbial Classification System
Classification is the process of organizing organisms into hierarchically inclusive groups based on their phenotypic similarities or evolutionary relationships. A species comprises one or more strains, and closely related species are grouped into genera. Genera are further classified into families, families into orders, orders into classes, and so forth, up to the domain level, which is the broadest taxonomic rank derived from a combination of phenotypic and genotypic data.The nomenclature of...