[Mechanism of Zixin Biqiu Granules in treatment of allergic rhinitis based on network pharmacology and molecular docking technology].

Allergic rhinitis(AR) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of nasal mucosa induced by allergen exposure triggering IgE-mediated inflammation. With frequent recurrence, it is difficult to be cured. Zixin Biqiu Granules is developed based on the 60-year clinical experience of CHAO En-xiang, a master of national medicine of China-Japan Friendship Hospital. At present, phase Ⅲ multicenter clinical trial is being prepared, but the mechanism is unclear. Therefore, this study explored the mechanism of Zixin Biqiu Granules against AR based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. First, the chemical components and targets of Zixin Biqiu Granules were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP), and the targets of AR from GeneCards and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man(OMIM). Then the common targets of the two were screened out and the "Chinese medicine-component-target" network was constructed. Afterward, the common targets were imported into the STRING to obtain the interaction of them, and Cytoscape was employed to establish the protein-protein interaction(PPI) network. Through topological analysis, the core targets were obtained. DAVID was used for Gene Ontology(GO) term enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment. The "key target-pathway-biological process" network was constructed to explore the anti-AR mechanism of Zixin Biqiu Granules. Finally, the core targets were selected for molecular docking with the key components of Zixin Biqiu Granules to verify the mechanism. The results showed that there were 151 components and 97 targets in the "Chinese medicine-component-target" network. We obtained 20 core targets, 488 biological processes and 147 pathways in topological, GO, and KEGG enrichment analysis of the protein interaction network, and in the comprehensive analysis, it was found that Zixin Biqiu Granules mainly exerted the therapeutic effect through anti-inflammation and immunoregulation. Serine/threonine-protein kinase 1(AKT1) and tumor necrosis factor(TNF) were docked with the key components of Zixin Biqiu Granules, and the results showed that the key components of Zixin Biqiu Granules had high binding affinity to the core targets. This study preliminarily discussed the anti-AR mechanism of Zixin Biqiu Granules, which laid a scientific basis for its clinical application.

Acupuncture and herbal moxibustion for the treatment of 'BiQiu' (allergic rhinitis symptoms) in a Hong Kong Chinese medicine clinic: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common disease. No evidence is available for the clinical application of acupuncture and moxibustion for the management of AR symptoms in Hong Kong. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture with or without herbal moxibustion on relieving AR symptoms in the Hong Kong population. METHODS: A single-centre, randomized, assessor-blinded, controlled trial with three parallel arms (acupuncture alone, acupuncture combined with herbal moxibustion treatment and waitlist) was designed. Groups with acupuncture treatment received treatment 3 times per week for a total of 12 sessions in 4 weeks. Acupuncture combined with herbal moxibustion treatment group received herbal moxibustion once per week for a total of 4 sessions over 4 weeks in addition to acupuncture treatment. Participants in the waitlist group received no treatment. All patients received advice on healthy lifestyle, diet, and exercise. RESULTS: Ninety-six subjects were recruited and allocated randomly (1:1:1) into three study groups. Compared to the waitlist group, both treatment groups demonstrated statistically significant decreases in TNSS and RQLQ at the end of treatment as well as after follow-up period (all P < 0.01). However, there was no statistically differences between these two treatment groups. There was no difference in the change of total IgE levels among study groups before or after the treatment. Only one patient reported adverse effects with herbal moxibustion treatment, and no adverse effects were found in others. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports that acupuncture could help relieve AR symptoms, but no evidence on additional treatment effect of herbal moxibustion was found.Trial registration ChiCTR-INR-16010047 registered on November 25, 2016.

Study on Clinical Consistency Evaluation in TCM Practice Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Biqiu (Allergic Rhinitis) / 中国中医药信息杂志

Zhangjiagang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as a collaborative unit of the project, participated in the clinical consistency evaluation in project of TCM Practice guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Biqiu (allergic rhinitis) organized by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The evaluation results showed that the guideline met the clinical practice requirements. This article summarized the clinical evaluation experience from the three aspects: The diagnosis in TCM and Western medicine is clear and definite, but the English translation needs to be considered; The definition of remission phase of Biqiu (allergic rhinitis) is difficult, to interfere by identifying the constitution is innovative; The advantages of "preventive treatment of diseases" in TCM should be fully played in role, improving the satisfaction of patients.

Acupuncture Treatment Ideas of Allergic Rhinitis from the Perspective of“Fluid Retention ;Disease”in TCM / 中国中医药信息杂志

Abstact: Biqiu is equivalent to allergic rhinitis in modern medicine. Ancient and modern literature has shown that acupuncture has a good clinical efficacy on this disease. However, there is no uniform specification in the choice of acupuncture methods (such as acupuncture, moxibustion, warm acupuncture and so on) and the selection of acupoints. According to the etiology and pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis and its clinical manifestations, Biqiu can be classified as“fluid retention disease”in TCM. This article tried to provide a new idea for acupuncture treatment of Biqiu from the perspective of the treatment of“fluid retention disease”in TCM.

Clinical Efficacy of Acupuncture Combined with Treatment of Chinese Herb for Allergic Rhinitis / 浙江中医药大学学报

Objective] To observe the efficacy of acupuncture combined with Chinese herb and conventional treatment for allergic rhinitis. [Method] 272 patients were randomly divided into four groups: Control group, Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) group, Acupuncture group, Acupuncture combined TCM group. Patients in Control group received conventional treatment for allergic rhinitis;based on Control group, acupuncture was added in Acupuncture group; based on Control group, TCM was used in TCM group; patients in Acupuncture combined TCM group received both acupuncture and TCM. After treatment, the efficacy of all these groups was analyzed. [Result] The cure rate and total efficiency of Acupuncture combined TCM group, Acupuncture group and TCM group was significantly increased. Compared with the control groups the differences were statistically significant( P<0.05). Among them the therapeutic effect of acupuncture combined TCM group had the best cure rate. Compared to the differences over the TCM group and acupuncture group, the cure rate and total efficiency were statistically significant( P<0.05). [Conclusion] It's important to combine acupuncture together with TCM to improve the clinical efficacy of allergic rhinitis.