Traditional Chinese Medicine
in the Treatment of Reproductive Disorders of Large Animals in Asia
ZH Zuo1, TY Zhang1,
J Chu1, Q Zhang1, YX Guo1, ZQ Shen2
and C He1*
1Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis,
Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China
Agricultural University, 100193 Beijing, China; 2Shandong
Binzhou Animal Science & Veterinary Medicine Academy, Shandong 256600, China
Abstract
Reproductive diseases have
been a great threat in large animal herds. Before induction of western
medicines, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that is based on the use of herbal
medicine, acupuncture, massage and other forms of therapy has been practiced in
China for thousands of years. The foundational text of Chinese medicine dated
back to 5th century to 3rd century BCE, humans in China
began developing the TCM therapy by maintaining normal homeostasis and body
functions. Traditional Chinese medicine prophylaxis is a very different strategy
from that of the western medicine, targeting the balance of the diseased animals
as compared to the single lesion. Traditional Chinese medicine was also applied
to cure ruminant’s reproductive disorders such as infertility, abortion and
retained placenta. With the increasing concerns of the antibiotic resistance and
drug abuse happened, TCM has acquired re-recognition as compared to western
medicines due to eco-friendly consumer-driven developments and less residue in
food chains. More importantly, a growing number of active substances or extracts
with the reliable efficacy are being identified, meanwhile, the quality control
measures are satisfied in the large-scale production already. However, few TCM
is recognized to be used internationally as the popular human medication. Even
less TCM is prescribed legally to animal industry due to poor understanding TCM
philosophy and lack of the right guidelines of the registration. This summary
aims to elucidate the TCM application in the treatment of the
reproductive disorder in large animals and
offer alternative strategies for prophylaxis.
Key words:
Abortion,
Herds,
Infertility,
Reproductive disorder,
Retained placenta, Traditional Chinese medicines