An Innovative and Comprehensive Approach in Studying the Complex Synergistic Interactions Among Herbs in Chinese Herbal Formulae

Traditional Chinese Medicine prescriptions depend not only on the individual herbs, but the interactions among herbs within an herbal formula. With examples, this chapter presents an innovative and comprehensive approach to studying the complex synergistic interactions among herbs in Chinese herbal formulae. In multi-targeted in vitro studies, we have integrated the use of the Combination Index and a statistical test of synergy to demonstrate not only the effectiveness of the combined use of herbs, but of the variation of their relationship on each mode of action. We report one of the first applications of statistical interpretations of combination effects of herbs in complex herbal formulae and the feasibility of applying this methodology in combinatory study of herbs.