Prof. Wen Chengping and his team from ZCMU recently published two international standard guidelines for TCM in Pharmacological Research (Q1 TOP Journal, IF=9.3) and Traditional Medicine Research.

Guideline I, titled The reporting checklist for Chinese patent medicine guidelines: RIGHT for CPM, was published in Pharmacological Research. The project team extracted information from existing Chinese patent medicine guidelines, current standards for reporting on Chinese medicine, and the statements and adaptation of the healthcare practice reporting guidelines, resulting in an initial report for the Chinese patent medicine guidelines. Seventeen experts from various disciplines participated in two rounds of the Delphi method to refine and clarify the entries. Finally, 18 authoritative experts from the fields of TCM research, clinical practice guidelines, and reporting guidelines in China reviewed and approved the list of reporting standards for Chinese patent medicine guidelines. The development of this checklist provides TCM researchers with detailed, comprehensive, and transparent guidance for Chinese patent medicine reports, aiding practitioners in better understanding and applying Chinese patent medicine guidelines.

Guideline II, titled Guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with integrated traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine to increase efficiency and reduce toxicity, was published in Traditional Medicine Research.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a refractory immuno-rheumatic disease often treated with immunosuppressive agents, biologics, or even hormones, which have certain efficacy but can cause liver and kidney damage, hematopoietic dysfunction and secondary infections, among other toxic side effects. Integrating Chinese and Western medicine has shown significant clinical advantages in enhancing efficacy and reducing toxicity. Existing clinical guidelines play a crucial role in RA treatment. Still, they rarely involve integrated Chinese and Western medicine, nor do they provide guidance on improving efficacy and reducing toxic side effects, and the evidence opinions lack evidence-based quality evaluation and recommendation strength. In response to these gaps, Prof. Wen Chengping’s team at ZCMU, in collaboration with Prof. Chen Yaolong’s team at Lanzhou University, led the development of a guideline on the combination of Chinese and Western medicine treatment to increase efficacy and reduce toxicity in RA, aiming to promote the clinical application of TCM in RA and fully leverage the advantages of integrating Chinese and Western medicines.