Clinical Efficacy and Mechanism of Tongxie Yaofang on Patients with IBS-D of Liver Depression and Spleen Deficiency / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of Tongxie Yaofang on irritable bowel syndrome-D (IBS-D) of liver-stagnation and spleen-deficiency type, in order to explore its mechanism in regulating brain-intestine interaction by changing the intestinal flora before and after treatment. Method:Totally 116 patients with IBS-D with liver stagnation and spleen deficiency who were diagnosed from July 2016 to December 2018 were randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 58 patients in each group. Observation group was treated with Tongxie Yaofang orally. Control group was treated with pivalvonium orally. Both groups were treated for 4 weeks. Scores of traditional Chinese medicine pattern curative effect scoring system (TCM-PES), IBS quality of life questionnaire (IBS-QOL), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) of two groups were compared before and after treatment. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) were detected before and after treatment by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction(Real-time PCR) was used to detect changes in Escherichia coli, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus faecalis and other intestinal flora before and after treatment. Result:TCM-PES and IBS-QOL scores of two groups were improved after treatment. TCM-PES and IBS-QOL scores of observation group were higher than those of control group (P<0.05). TCM syndromes of observation group were significantly higher than those of control group (P<0.05). SAS and SDS scores were significantly lower after treatment. SAS and SDS scores of observation group were lower than those of control group after treatment (P<0.05). Plasma CGRP and VIP decreased after treatment. Plasma CGRP and VIP in observation group were significantly lower than those in control group (P<0.05). There was no significant change in E. coli after treatment in two groups. After treatment, L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, and S. faecalis increased (P<0.05). In control group, intestinal L. acidophilus increased after treatment (P<0.05). The differences of intestinal L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, S. faecalis in two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion:TCM can alleviate clinical symptoms, such as abdominal pain and diarrhea in patients with IBS-D, improve patients' bad mood and improve their quality of life. This may be related to improvement of intestinal flora imbalance, regulation of brain intestinal peptide secretion and reduction of visceral hypersensitivity.