Traditional Chinese Medicine as Prevention and Treatment Strategies of HIV Infection

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has produced impressive responses in treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. However, various terms, such as principle, standard, assumption, convention, and concept, for TCM treatment are not accepted by conventional AIDS experts. The increasing popularity of TCM has also inspired horror about their toxicity and uncertainty of complex components. In this paper, the evidence of Chinese herbal treatment of AIDS patients and prevention of the spread of HIV was provided; an overview of the TCM practitioners' concepts of how TCM work was discussed. We reported fourteen relevant studies, including ten Chinese herbal compounds, and four TCM extracts. In the TCM's study, these aspects, including critically assessing the authenticity, strict quality assurance measures, feasible evaluation system of the acute and chronic toxicity and clinical efficacy, are very important. We believe that potential drugs derived from TCM will be found, and TCM will play a crucial role in the prevention and treatment of AIDS.