中文摘要：

传统中药多为口服用药,这决定了中药成分在体内发挥药效的形式具有多样性。中药在体内发挥药效的物质可能是中药中的化学成分,还可能是中药成分在体内的代谢产物。尽管中药化学成分研究在过去的30年里取得了令人瞩目的成就,但中药成分的体内代谢研究一直进展缓慢。本文针对目前研究现状提出加快该领域研究的一些建议和想法,并通过一些研究实例揭示中药成分体内代谢研究在阐明中药药效物质等方面的作用。

英文摘要：

Traditional Chinese Materia Medica （TCMM） has a long history for its application in treating diseases, and has been proved in clinic for its efficacies. In the most cases, these medicines are taken orally, and the oral bioavailabilities of their chemical constituents are generally poor, and one of the most important causes is that the chemical constituents are biotransformed in gastrointestinal tract or in liver due to the in vivo chemical and biological circumstances. Since the pharmacological effects are considered to be derived from the absorbed chemical substances, we believe some biotransformed products might play an important role for the effectiveness of TCMM. Although the study on chemical constituents of TCMM has made significant achievements in the past three decades, the study on in vivo metabolism of TCMM constituents has still been in slow progress. In order to promote the research progress in this field, this paper will give some suggestions and ideas based on the current research situation, and some examples are presented to reveal the role of in vivo metabolism of chemical constituents in clarifying effective substance of TCMM.