Progression of the Wei-Qi-Ying-Xue syndrome, microcirculatory disturbances, in infectious diseases and treatment with traditional Chinese medicine

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxemia is a critical condition that initiates microcirculatory disturbance and may progress to multiple organ failure that threatens the lives of millions of people around the world each year. The pathology of endotoxemia involves multiple insults mediated by a range of signaling pathways. Multitarget management is required to relieve endotoxemia. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a type of therapeutic that commonly contains numerous components and, thus, exhibits multitarget potential. More importantly, some TCM formulas have been proposed and used for effective treatment of endotoxemia-like diseases. In the past 20 years, an increasing number of studies have explored the effects and mechanisms of these formulas and their major bioactive components on microcirculatory disturbance and organ injury caused by LPS. The results obtained thus far provide support for the clinical use of TCM and shed light on the underlying mechanisms.