Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 4;17(1):43.
doi: 10.1186/s13020-022-00591-x.

Chinese herbal medicines in the treatment of ulcerative colitis: a review

Xuan Zhang #  1   2 , Lin Zhang #  3 , Jacky C P Chan  4 , Xihong Wang  3 , Chenchen Zhao  5 , Ying Xu  3 , Weifeng Xiong  6 , Wai Chak Chung  1 , Feng Liang  1 , Xu Wang  6 , Jiangxia Miao  7 , Zhaoxiang Bian  8   9
Affiliations

Chinese herbal medicines in the treatment of ulcerative colitis: a review

Xuan Zhang et al. Chin Med. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate how the ulcerative colitis (UC) be treated with Chinese herbal medicines (CHM), using Chinese medicine (CM) pattern (zheng) identification, in the current clinical practice.

Methods: A total of 7 electronic databases were systematically searched for UC clinical studies with CHM interventions (including single herbs and CHM formulas) published in English and Chinese from the date of their inception to November 25, 2020. Descriptive statistics were adopted to demonstrate the characteristics of study design, and to collate the commonly CM patterns of UC and frequently used CHM herbs and formulas. Further, IBM SPSS Modeler 18.0 and Cytoscape 3.7.1 software were used to analyze and visualize the associations between different categories of CHM and their zheng indications.

Results: A total of 2311 articles were included in this study, of which most (> 90%) were RCTs with CHM formulas. The most common zheng of UC was Large intestine dampness-heat, while the basic type of CM patten was Spleen deficiency. The most frequently used classical formula was Bai-Tou-Weng-Tang, followed by Shen-Ling-Bai-Zhu-San, and the commonly used proprietary CHM was Xi-Lei-San (enema). Sulfasalazine and Mesalazine are commonly used as concomitant western medicines. The most frequently used single medicinals were Huang Lian and Bai Zhu, which also identified as the core herbs for different CM patterns.

Conclusion: This study examined the application of CHM interventions for UC and summarized their characteristics in clinical practice. These data indicated there were limited information about the safety assessment of CHM formulas and further RCTs including CM pattern(s) with strict design are necessary.

Keywords: Chinese herbal medicine formula; Clinical practice of Chinese medicine; Data mining; Literature review; Pattern identification; Ulcerative colitis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of the search and selection process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of CHM interventions studies for UC included from 1990 to November 2020
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Top 5 frequency used CHM interventions for UC
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Network relationship of Chinese herbal medicines in the tretment of UC based on different CM patterns (a Large intestine dampness-heat; b Spleen-kidney yang deficiency; c Liver depression and spleen deficiency; d Spleen-stomach weakness; e Spleen deficiency with dampness accumulation.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Kornbluth A, Sachar DB. Ulcerative colitis practice guidelines in adults: American College of Gastroenterology. Practice Parameters Committee Am J Gastroenterol. 2010;105:501–523. - PubMed
    1. Magro F, Gionchetti P, Eliakim R, Ardizzone S, Armuzzi A, Barreiro-De Acosta M, et al. Third European evidence-based consensus on diagnosis and management of ulcerative colitis. part 1: definitions, diagnosis, extra-intestinal manifestations, pregnancy, cancer surveillance, surgery, and ileo-anal pouch disorders. J Crohns Colitis 2017;11:649–70. - PubMed
    1. Cohen RD, Yu AP, Wu EQ, Xie J, Mulani PM, Chao J. Systematic review: the costs of ulcerative colitis in Western countries. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2010;31:693–707. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2010.04234.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kugathasan S, Fiocchi C. Progress in basic inflammatory bowel disease research. Semin Pediatr Surg. 2007;16:146–153. doi: 10.1053/j.sempedsurg.2007.04.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dulai PS, Jairath V. Acute severe ulcerative colitis: latest evidence and therapeutic implications. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2018;9:65–72. doi: 10.1177/2040622317742095. - DOI - PMC - PubMed