Metabonomics is a new ‘omic’ that has emerged in the postgenomic era. Recently, metabonomics technology is increasingly and widely used in the field of traditional Chinese medicine research; however, metabonomics research investigating the function and mechanisms of acupuncture is still at an exploratory stage. The present article describes the unique advantages of metabonomics in systems biology, analyzes the application of metabonomics, and presents a preliminary exploration of the application of metabonomics in modern acupuncture research including sham acupuncture, time acupuncture, mechanistic research investigating the effects of acupuncture on serious illness and the compatibility of prescriptions with acupuncture in clinical research.
