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(Left)Dr. Siu-wai Leung and his student Yongliang Jia

Dr. Siu-wai Leung and his students at the Institute of Chinese Medical Science (ICMS), the University of Macau (UM), found that danshen dripping pill (DSP) is more effective than isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN) in treating coronary heart disease angina pectoris. A paper entitled “Is danshen dripping pill more effective than isosorbide dinitrate in treating angina pectoris? A systematic review of randomized controlled trials” has been accepted for publication by the International Journal of Cardiology.

The ICMS's biomedical informatics research team including Dr. Siu-wai Leung and his student Yongliang Jia carried out a comprehensive and PRISMA-compliant systemic review with sensitivity and subgroup analyses on DSP and ISDN. They found that DSP is more effective than ISDN in treating angina pectoris. The team suggested that further RCTs of larger scale, multi-centre/country, longer follow-up periods, and higher quality are warranted to verify the efficacy of DSP over all anti-anginal therapies.

According to the team, DSP is a popular Chinese medicinal product in treating cardiovascular diseases. Over 100 clinical studies have been reported in the Chinese journals but their results have not been thoroughly analyzed according to the PRISMA systematic review standard. Their research has filled this gap to evaluate whether DSP is more effective than western medicine such as ISDN.

A research paper entitled “Is danshen dripping pill more effective than isosorbide dinitrate in treating angina pectoris? a systematic review of randomized controlled trials” has passed rigorous peer review by international reviewers and will be published in the International Journal of Cardiology, which is a western clinical journal devoted to cardiology. The journal's unusual acceptance of this paper showing the advantages of a Chinese medicinal product over western medicine indicates the high quality of this research and the potential for this research direction.

Dr. Leung's postgraduate student Yongliang Jia also won the First Class Prize at the SANHOME Pharmaceutical Cup (SPC) competition in China for his outstanding performance in this project.

Dr. Leung is Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics at UM, Fellow of the Society of Biology in the United Kingdom and Executive Editor of Chinese Medicine journal. He intends to establish international research collaboration, with emphasis on systems bioinformatics and automated experimentation, in order to facilitate the evidence-based translational research between laboratory / bench-side and clinical / bed-side developments. He is now planning the Joint Edinburgh-Macau Laboratory for Biomedical Informatics and Global Health Technologies with the School of Informatics, the University of Edinburgh. Through the Joint Laboratory, he will also participate in the development of a world-class Systems Biology course with major UK leaders in this field, including Edinburgh University, Birbeck College London, Open University, and United College London. The course development has a budget of £1M and is being funded by the UK government.