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■負責是次研究的趙中振教授經常跋山涉水，挖掘新的中藥材物種。資料圖片
中藥以其成分天然、少副作用的優點，一直受到廣泛歡迎。為方便病人服藥，現時傳統中藥一般會經過現代科技的「包裝」，合成中成藥製品。但近年假冒偽劣的藥物氾濫，這類合成中藥製劑更是難辨真假。香港浸會大學中醫藥學院近期一項研究，首次創造性地將一項顯微鏡技術用於中藥材鑒定，只要利用一種振光顯微鏡，透過光學的透射、折射等方式，將顯微狀態下的中藥合成藥劑，好似抽絲剝繭一般，依照不同藥材的結構、顏色等特徵，準確地分辨出合成藥中的各成分，大幅提升現代中藥鑑定的精確性。
從事中藥鑑定工作10多年、負責是項研究的浸大中醫藥學院教授趙中振，其有關顯微鑑別的系列論文不斷於美國前沿期刊《顯微鏡研究與技術》(Microscopy Research and Technique)上刊登。今年初，他帶領的科研小組更首創性利用振光顯微鏡(Light Microscopy)、成功鑑定部分中藥材的科研成果再次被該期刊選登，並得到業內人士的廣泛關注。
趙中振在介紹這項顯微鑑定時稱，他們先將中藥合成製劑磨成粉末狀，經過化學處理後，將物質放在特定鏡片下，透過顯微鏡觀察微觀狀態下藥材各成分的內部組織構造、細胞形狀等。他指出，科研人員把觀察結果與中藥材《顯微圖鑒》中的形態做對比，便可確認複合物中的所有成分。此外，這個新方法還可鑑定藥材的真偽和純度，甚至是判斷藥材品質。
Hong Kong Baptist University pioneered the use of light microscopy in verifying
Chinese medicine uses natural ingredients and therefore has very few side effects. Due to this advantage, Chinese medicine is popular and widely used. To make it more convenient for patients, most traditional Chinese medicine is now "formulated" into compounds by means of modernized techniques. In recent years, unfortunately, the market has been flooded with fake or substandard Chinese medicine and it is especially difficult to tell whether these formulated compounds contain genuine or fake ingredients. The School of Chinese Medicine of the Hong Kong Baptist University has conducted a research that pioneered the use of microscopy technique in the accreditation of Chinese medicine. It was found out that a light microscope can be used to identify the different ingredients of a Chinese medicine compound. By means of such techniques as transmission and refraction, a medicine compound can be visually "dismantled" into parts, and the microscopic image will show the characteristics of various ingredients including their structural patterns and colours, making it possible to identify accurately the components of the compound. This technique greatly improves the precision in the accreditation of modern Chinese medicine.
Professor Zhao Zhong-zhen of the School of Chinese Medicine of Hong Kong Baptist University, who is in charge of this study, has been working on Chinese medicine accreditation for more than ten years. He has published a series of papers about microscopy verification in Microscopy Research and Technique, a US journal in the forefront of science and research. Earlier this year, the journal once again documented the scientific achievement made by Professor Zhao and his research team. Their research results on the innovative use of light microscopy in the successful verification of some Chinese medicine appeared in the journal. The report has aroused a lot of interest among experts in the field.
Introducing the microscopy verification technique, Professor Zhao said they will firstly grind the Chinese medicine compound into powder. After certain chemical treatments, the substance will be placed under a special lens to be magnified and viewed with a microscope. The images will then show the characteristics of the ingredients including their internal structures and cell forms. At this stage, as he explained, the researchers can match the results with the characteristics detailed in the All Illustrated Microscopic Authentication of Chinese Materia Medica and confirm the ingredients of the compound. In addition, the new method can also verify the genuineness, purity and even the quality of the medicine. ■translated by開明
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