The prognosis of infectious diseases is determined by host-pathogen interactions.Control of pathogens has been the central dogma of treating infectious diseases in modern medicine,but the pathogen-directed medicine is...The prognosis of infectious diseases is determined by host-pathogen interactions.Control of pathogens has been the central dogma of treating infectious diseases in modern medicine,but the pathogen-directed medicine is facing significant challenges,including a lack of effective antimicrobials for newly emerging pathogens,pathogen drug resistance,and drug side effects.Here,a mathematic equation(ter-med equation of host-pathogen interactions,HPI-Equation)is developed to dissect the key variables of hostpathogen interactions.It shows that control of pathogens does not necessarily lead to host recov-ery.Instead,a combination of promoting a host’s power of self-healing and balancing immune responses provides the best benefit for host.Moreover,the HPI-Equation elucidates the scientific basis of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),a host-based medicine that treats infectious diseases by promot-ing self-healing power and balancing immune responses.The importance of self-healing power eluci-dated in the HPIEquation is confirmed by recent studies that the tolerance mechanism,which is discovered in plants and animals and conceptually similar to self-healing power,improves host survival without directly attacking pathogens.In summary,the HPI-Equation describes host-pathogen interac-tions with mathematical logic and precision;it translates the ancient wisdoms of TCM into apprehen-sible modern sciences and opens a new venue for integrating TCM and modern medicine for a future medicine.展开更多
文摘The prognosis of infectious diseases is determined by host-pathogen interactions.Control of pathogens has been the central dogma of treating infectious diseases in modern medicine,but the pathogen-directed medicine is facing significant challenges,including a lack of effective antimicrobials for newly emerging pathogens,pathogen drug resistance,and drug side effects.Here,a mathematic equation(ter-med equation of host-pathogen interactions,HPI-Equation)is developed to dissect the key variables of hostpathogen interactions.It shows that control of pathogens does not necessarily lead to host recov-ery.Instead,a combination of promoting a host’s power of self-healing and balancing immune responses provides the best benefit for host.Moreover,the HPI-Equation elucidates the scientific basis of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),a host-based medicine that treats infectious diseases by promot-ing self-healing power and balancing immune responses.The importance of self-healing power eluci-dated in the HPIEquation is confirmed by recent studies that the tolerance mechanism,which is discovered in plants and animals and conceptually similar to self-healing power,improves host survival without directly attacking pathogens.In summary,the HPI-Equation describes host-pathogen interac-tions with mathematical logic and precision;it translates the ancient wisdoms of TCM into apprehen-sible modern sciences and opens a new venue for integrating TCM and modern medicine for a future medicine.
