This article exemplifies a systematic approach to revealing the complexity of Chinese herbal medicine formulae through three levels of scientific research: standardization of herbs, verification of ancient formulae and mechanism studies. We use Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) as an example for this approach. The approach will be useful to reveal the complexity of not
only DBT but also other Chinese medicine herbal formulae.

The osteoprotective effect of Herba epimedii (HEP) extract in vivo and in vitro.