Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging, rapidly evolving disease, with no recommended effective anti-coronavirus drug treatment. Chinese Patent Medicines (CPMs) have, however, been widely used to treat COVID-19 in China, and a number of clinical practice results have shown them to have a significant role in its treatment. Consequently, numerous guidelines and expert consensus have recommended the use of CPMs to treat COVID-19. In order to provide up-to-date information on the pharmacology and clinical research on CPMs in the treatment of COVID-19, discuss the research findings, and to better guide clinical application and scientific research on CPMs in the treatment of COVID-19, the frequencies of CPM recommendations by guidelines and expert consensus for treatment of COVID-19 in China were ranked. This report identifies the top 10 CPMs, which include Huoxiang Zhengqi capsule (HXZQC), Lianhua Qingwen capsule (LHQWC), Jinhua Qinggan granule (JHQGG), Shufeng Jiedu capsule (SFJDC), Tanreqing injection (TRQI), Xiyanping injection (XYPI), Xuebijing injection (XBJI), Shenfu injection (SFI), Shengmai injection (SMI) and Angong Niuhuang pill (AGNHP). Relevant studies from 2000 to 2020 on these top 10 CPMs, covering usage, dosage, mechanism, curative effect and precautions, were collected from pharmacopoeia, reports and theses via library and digital databases (including PubMed, CNKI, Google Scholar, Web of Science and Elsevier). The properties of the top 10 CPMs included antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic, anti-acute lung injury, anti-shock, immune regulation, and enhancement of pulmonary function. In addition, clinical research results and Chinese treatment data showed that the CPMs had good therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19, and adverse reactions were minimal. So, clearly-knowing the characteristics and precautions of the top 10 CPMs may help clinicians to use rationally, improve therapeutic efficacy, and promote the role of Chinese Medicine in global epidemic prevention for COVID-19.

Viral pneumonia is one kind of acute respiratory tract infection caused by the virus. There have been many outbreaks of viral pneumonia with high contagiousness and mortality both in China and abroad, such as the great influenza in 1918, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus in 2003, the Influenza A (H1N1) virus in 2009, and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019. These outbreaks and/or pandemic have significant impact on human life, social behaviors, and economic development. Moreover, no specific drug has been developed for these viruses. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays an important role in the treatment of viral pneumonia during these outbreaks especially in SARS and SARS-CoV-2 because studies suggest that TCM formulations may target several aspects of the disease and may have lesser side effects than manufactured pharmaceuticals. In recent years, a lot of clinicians and researchers have made a series of in-depth explorations and investigations on the treatment of viral pneumonia with TCM, which have understood TCM therapeutic mechanisms more specifically and clearly. But critical analysis of this research in addition to further studies are needed to assess the potential of TCM in the treatment of viral pneumonia.

Gestational diabetes mellitus is the most common metabolic disorder during pregnancy with health consequences for both lives during and after pregnancy. Studies found that many pregnant women turn to complementary and alternative medicine for health maintenance or symptom relief, such as herbal medicine and acupuncture from traditional Chinese medicine. With the growing popularity of traditional Chinese medicine, we conducted a systemic search in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases on research studies that investigated traditional Chinese medicine during pregnancy. The resultant hits were further searched in relation to all diabetes mellitus. In total, we found three major herbal medicine/herbal products that were associated with glycemic control in gestational diabetes, including Zuo Gui Wan, red raspberry leaves, and Orthosiphon stamineus. We further reviewed them and their relatives in relation to type 2 diabetes mellitus and found more evidence of metabolic benefits. None of the herbal medicine and products examined reported toxicity in the experimental models. Overall, treatments of gestational diabetes by western or alternative interventions are grossly understudied. It is critical to have a standardized protocol when evaluating efficacy of herbal medicine and produce quality results for women and their health-care providers to make informed treatment decisions.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disease highly associated with metabolic diseases and gut dysbiosis. Several clinical trials have confirmed that fructooligosaccharides (FOSs) are a viable alternative treatment for NAFLD. However, the mechanisms underlying the activities of FOSs remain unclear. In this study, the effects of FOSs were investigated with the use of two C57BL/6 J mouse models of NAFLD induced by a high-fat, high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet and a methionine- and choline-deficient (MCD) diet, respectively. The measured metabolic parameters included body, fat, and liver weights; and blood glucose, glucose tolerance, and serum levels of glutamate transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and triglycerides. Liver tissues were collected for histological analysis. In addition, 16 S rRNA sequencing was conducted to investigate the effects of FOSs on the composition of the gut microbiota of mice in the HFHC and MCD groups and treated with FOSs. FOS treatment attenuated severe metabolic changes and hepatic steatosis caused by the HFHC and MCD diets. In addition, FOSs remodeled the structure of gut microbiota in mice fed the HFHC and MCD diets, as demonstrated by increased abundances of Bacteroidetes (phylum level), Klebsiella variicola, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Clostridium perfringens (species level); and decreased abundances of Verrucomicrobia (phylum level) and the Fissicatena group (genus level). Moreover, the expression levels of genes associated with lipid metabolism and inflammation (i.e., ACC1, PPARγ, CD36, MTTP, APOC3, IL-6, and IL-1β) were down-regulated after FOS treatment. FOSs alleviated the pathological phenotype of NAFLD via remodeling of the gut microbiota composition and decreasing hepatic lipid metabolism, suggesting that FOSs as functional dietary supplements can potentially reduce the risk of NAFLD.