RESUMO
Objective To investigate the regulatory effect of Jiedu Huayu Tongfu prescription on intestinal homeostasis in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis with liver-gallbladder damp-heat syndrome, as well as its effect on endotoxin, inflammatory factors, and cellular immune function. Methods A total of 72 patients who attended The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine from June 2019 to January 2021 and met the diagnostic and inclusion criteria were enrolled as subjects and then randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 36 patients in each group. In the treatment group, 2 patients were lost to follow-up, 2 patients were excluded, and 32 patients completed the study; in the control group, 2 patients were lost to follow-up, 1 patient was excluded, and 33 patients completed the study. In addition to the basic treatment including antiviral therapy and liver-protecting treatment, the patients in the observation group were given Jiedu Huayu Tongfu granules, and those in the control group were given oral administration of Bifidobacterium tetravaccine tablets; the course of treatment was 4 weeks for both groups. The 16S rDNA sequencing technique was used for sequencing of fecal flora, and the two groups were measured in terms of the changes in liver function [alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBil), and albumin (Alb)], endotoxin (ET), levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), and T lymphocyte subsets (CD3 + T, CD4 + T, CD8 + T, and CD4 + /CD8 + ) after treatment. For normally distributed continuous data with homogeneity of variance, the paired t -test was used for comparison within each group, and the independent samples t -test was used for comparison between two groups; the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data. Results The observation group had a significantly higher overall response rate than the control group (87.5% vs 60.6%, χ 2 =-2.299, P =0.022). After treatment, both groups had significant reductions in ALT, AST, and TBil and a significant increase in Alb (all P 0.05). Conclusion Jiedu Huayu Tongfu prescription, in combination with etiological and basic treatments, can alleviate clinical symptoms, reduce liver injury, and improve cellular immune function in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis with liver-gallbladder damp-heat syndrome. Jiedu Huayu Tongfu prescription can improve the imbalance of intestinal flora by increasing the abundance of the probiotic bacteria such as Firmicutes, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium and the pathogenic bacteria such as Bacteroidetes and Cercozoa, and its effect in further improving liver and immune function may be associated with the regulation of intestinal microecology.