Fig. 1

The comparison of pharmacology study content between single compound and CM formula. In investigating the pharmacological actions of single compound (a), the researchers are set out to figure out which biological target(s) and which disease pathway(s) will be affected by the compound. While for CM formula (b), besides the biological target(s) and disease pathway(s), the active compound(s) which are responsible for disease modification, are also required to be identified. In some cases, the combinational effect of these active compounds are also needed to be elucidated