The prevalence of coronary heart disease （CHD） is increasing, and has been a severe burden on society and family worldwide. New ideas need to be achieved for developing more efficacious and safe therapies to treat CHD. Chinese medicine （CM） uses multicomponent drugs to prevent disease and ameliorate symptoms based on patients＇ different syndromes. The benefit of CM in CHD has recently been proven by increasing clinical evidence. More importantly, linking CM syndrome differentiation and biomedical diagnosis might provide innovative thinking for treating CHD. According to epidemiological investigations, blood stasis syndrome （BSS） is the major type of syndrome in CHD. Investigating the biomedical mechanisms of BSS of CHD is a topic of CM research. Because the holistic perspective of systems biology is well matched with CM, the application of omics techniques and other integrative approaches appears inherently appropriate. A wide range of omics techniques, including transcriptomics and proteomics, have been used in studies of BSS of CHD to search for a common ground of understanding. These approaches could be useful for understanding BSS of CHD from clinical and biological viewpoints. Nevertheless, current studies mainly contain results from a single approach, and they have not achieved the holistic, systematic and integrative concept of system biology. Therefore, we discuss the progress and challenges in exploring the biomedical mechanisms of BSS of CHD by systems biology approaches. With further development of systems biology, a better platform to study BSS of CHD may be provided, and biomarkers for BSS of CHD and therapeutic targets may be found. The study of BSS of CHD by systems biology approaches will also be beneficial for developing personalized treatment for BSS of CHD patients.
The medical community as a whole is attempting to start preventive therapy for coronary heartdisease （CHD） patients earlier in life. However, the main limitations of such interventions are drug resistanceand adverse reactions. Additionally, traditional biomarker discovery methods for CHD focus on the behavior ofindividual biomarkers regardless of their relevance. These limitations have led to attempting novel approachesto multi-dimensionally investigate CHD and identify safe and efficacious therapies for preventing CHD. Recently,the benefit of Chinese medicine （CM） in CHD has been proven by increasing clinical evidence. More importantly,linking CM theory with modern biomedicine may lead to new scientific discoveries. According to CM theory,all treatments for patients should be based on patients＇ syndromes. A recent epidemiological investigation hasdemonstrated that blood stasis syndrome （BSS） is the major syndrome type of CHD. BSS is a type of complexpathophysiological state characterized by decreased or impeded blood flow. Common clinical features ofBSS include a darkish complexion, scaly dry skin, and cyanosis of the lips and nails, a purple or dark tonguewith purple spots, a thready and hesitant pulse, and stabbing or pricking pain fixed in location accompaniedby tenderness, mass formation and ecchymosis or petechiae. The severity of BSS is significantly correlatedwith the complexity of coronary lesions and the degree of stenosis, and is an important factor affecting theoccurrence of restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention. The mechanisms of BSS of CHD patientsshould be investigated from a modern medicine perspective. Although many studies have attempted toexplore the biomedical mechanisms of BSS of CHD, from hemorheological disorders to inflammation andimmune responses, the global picture of BSS of CHD is still unclear. In this article, the current status of studiesinvestigating the biomedical mechanisms of BSS of CHD and future perspectives are discussed.
