Interaction Between Intestinal Flora and Chronic Renal Failure and Traditional Chinese Medicine Intervention： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Chronic renal failure （CRF）， a common outcome of various chronic kidney diseases， is characterized by retention of metabolites and toxins， water-electrolyte imbalance， acid-base disturbance， and various symptoms in diverse systems. The incidence and progression of this disease are influenced by many factors， particularly the change of intestinal flora. Previous research shows that the intestinal flora interacts with CRF. For CRF patients， the metabolic waste fails to be cleared in time due to the gradual decline of renal function and thus accumulates in vivo. Moreover， CRF changes the composition of intestinal flora， damages intestinal barrier， and accelerates the synthesis of intestinal uremic toxins and the accumulation in blood. As a result， the renal injury is aggravated. The imbalance of intestinal flora can induce acute kidney injury， increase cardiovascular complications， stimulate immune inflammatory responses， and thus aggravate the progression of CRF. Microbiota-targeted therapy for CRF has become the research focus. According to traditional Chinese medicine， kidney disease is related to the intestine and kidney disease should be treated from the intestine. Spleen and kidney are in the closest relationship with the pathogenesis of CRF and the intestinal flora. Chinese medicine， which features multiple targets， multiple effects， and multiple components， acts on the "gut-kidney axis". It is thus superior in the clinical treatment of CRF and the regulation of intestinal flora. To be specific， it intervenes in intestinal flora to delay the process of CRF. In this paper， based on the correlation of traditional Chinese medicine theory with intestinal flora and CRF， this paper reviewed the interaction between intestinal flora and CRF and traditional Chinese medicine intervention in the intestinal flora for the treatment of CRF， which is expected to serve as a reference for the clinical treatment of this disease and the drug development.