In order to mediate the contradiction between the high quantity and low quality of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinical research, to avoid blind research and waste of resources, and to promote the benign development of TCM clinical research, we proposed carrying out health research priority setting on the TCM clinical research. This paper defined the main content of TCM clinical research and briefly introduced the research status of priority setting methods. We described a five-step process of the TCM priority setting research: setting the research scope and plan, establishing the working group, mapping the research field, identifying priority research areas, reporting, evaluating and updating the research. It is expected that this area will receive the attention of relevant researchers, policy makers and research funders.
ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between the G196A and C270T polymorphism and epilepsy.MethodsDatabase including PubMed, EMbase, the Cochrane Library, CNKI and Wan fang data were retrieved upto September, 2017 to collect the case-control study concerning BDNF two polymorphisms G196A/C270T and epilepsy. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and assessed the quality of methodology. Then Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software.Results①A total of 9 studies were included in the Meta-analysis between BDNF G196A and epilepsy. The studies included 1841 epilepsy patients and 6467 healthy control subjects. The G allele increase the risk of epilepsy[OR=1.13, 95%CI (1.06–1.21), P=0.0001]. When stratified by Asian and western subgroup, a similar trend of associated was detected with Asian epilepsy patients [OR=1.13, 95%CI (1.05–1.20), P=0.0004]. When stratified by epilepsy type, the G allele increase the risk of temporal lobe epilepsy [OR=1.18, 95%CI (1.04–1.34), P=0.008]. ② The Meta-analysis between BDNF C270T and epilepsy included 4 studies, 594 epilepsy patients and 738 healthy control subjects. The result suggested the frequency of the CT genotype and of the C270T T allele was not associated with epilepsy.ConclusionsBDNF G196A polymorphism is a susceptibility locus for temporal lobe epilepsy and Asian epilepsy patients.
Evidence-based Chinese medicine is a relatively new discipline which applies the concepts and methods of evidence-based medicine (EBM) to the clinical research and practice of Chinese medicine. It is not only a branch of EBM but also a natural product of the development of Chinese medicine. This paper introduces the theoretical concepts of evidence-based Chinese medicine and reviews the process of its development. It then elucidates the main characteristics of evidence-based Chinese medicine, emphasizes its holistic approach, prescription-syndrome relationship, and its human-centered approach. Research contents and status quo are also summarized to point out the challenges of the production and application of evidence. Finally, we innovatively indicate further research directions on combining individual-based research with population-based research and developing narrative EBM.