A Comprehensive Data Mining-Based Study for Review of Animal Studies on Traditional Chinese Medicine Prescriptions for Treating Ulcerative Colitis.

BACKGROUND

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex disease associated with immune dysregulation. Classic prescriptions (CP) of traditional Chinese medicine have a strong theoretical foundation and a long history of clinical use in treating UC. This study aims to uncover the intrinsic patterns and characteristics of these CPs.

METHODS

Data mining of CP literature for UC from VIP, CNKI, WanFang, and PubMed (2013-2023), which focused on herb usage frequency, properties, flavors, meridian tropisms, core herb pairs, and UC categories. Finally, the top ten CPs were further analyzed for clinical application.

RESULTS

A total of 62 prescriptions from 383 articles were analyzed, and the most frequently used prescriptions were Sishen pill, Huangqin decoction, and Shaoyao decoction. The greatest frequency herbs were Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Coptidis Rhizoma, Paeoniae Radix Alba, and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma. Herbs were pungent, bitter, and sweet in flavor with properties mainly being warm, cold, and neutral and targeting the liver, spleen, stomach, and heart meridians. Core herb pairs included Bupleuri-Poria, Atractylodis-Saposhnikoviae, Zingiberis-Jujubae, Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex -Coptidis Rhizoma, Pinelliae Rhizoma-Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma. Through cluster analysis, the herbs were categorized into four distinct clusters. Furthermore, the CP primarily exerted therapeutic effects by alleviating inflammation, restoring mucosal barriers, and maintaining immune balance.

CONCLUSION

Data mining identified Sishen Pill, Huangqin Decoction, and Shaoyao Decoction as the top three CPs for UC. The main mechanism of treating UC is by reducing inflammation, maintaining immune balance, and repairing the mucosal barrier.