Screening of Core Prescriptions for Tremors Based on Integrated Strategy of "Empirical Prescriptions in Ancient Books-medical Cases by Prestigious Doctors-computational Analysis" / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveBased on the integrated strategy of "empirical prescriptions in ancient books-medical cases by prestigious doctors-computational analysis"， this study aims to explore and analyze the prescriptions and medical cases for treating tremors in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， predict their efficacy， and obtain the core prescriptions for treating tremors in TCM， providing references for clinical application and new drug development. MethodThe Chinese Medicine Prescription Database and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI） were searched for relevant prescriptions and medical cases for treating tremors in TCM to establish a database of prescriptions for tremors. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Computer System （V3.0） was used to analyze and explore the medication rules including drug frequency， properties， flavor， meridian tropism， and pharmacological effects， as well as core drugs and formula associations. A multi-target drug efficacy prediction platform based on network robustness was used to evaluate the predicted efficacy of the core prescriptions obtained. Based on the integration of ancient prescriptions， prestigious doctors' medical cases， and network analysis results， the priority level of the developed prescriptions was determined through comprehensive evaluation. ResultA total of 81 ancient prescriptions were screened， involving 246 drugs， and 171 prescriptions were screened from prestigious doctors' medical cases， involving 278 drugs. The frequently used TCM drugs were mostly warm in nature and sweet in flavor， mainly acting on the liver， spleen， and kidney meridians. In terms of efficacy， they were mainly effective in tonifying deficiency， soothing liver and extinguishing wind， activating blood and resolving blood stasis， clearing heat， and resolving exterior. Through association rules and K-means clustering， the core prescriptions were composed of high-frequency drugs such as Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma， Astragali Radix， Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma， Angelicae Sinensis Radix， Poria， Gastrodiae Rhizoma， and Uncariae Ramulus Cum Uncis. Drug combinations mainly focused on tonifying Qi and nourishing blood， with the additional functions of calming wind and dredging collaterals. Clustering analysis of core prescriptions from ancient prescriptions and prestigious doctors' medical cases， as well as multi-target drug efficacy prediction， showed that Combination 1 had the highest disturbance score on the disease network. Furthermore， comparative analysis revealed consistent results with both the analysis of ancient prescriptions and prestigious doctors' medical cases， indicating its optimal development potential based on theoretical inheritance and empirical practice. In comparison， Combinations 3， 2， and 4 were less utilized in contemporary clinical practice， with lower rankings in network disturbance scores， suggesting that their development value still warranted further exploration. ConclusionTCM clinical treatment of tremors emphasizes the regulation of the liver， spleen， and kidney. In line of syndrome differentiation， drugs potent in soothing liver， extinguishing wind， activating blood， and resolving blood stasis are added based on deficiency-tonifying drugs. The core prescriptions based on Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， Angelicae Sinensis Radix， Paeoniae Radix Alba， Astragali Radix， Poria， and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma （combination 1） have the highest potential development value. The integrated strategy "empirical prescriptions in ancient books-medical cases by prestigious doctors-computational analysis" can be used for the screening of candidate prescriptions for new TCM drugs.