Wang L, Lian YJ, Dong JS, Liu MK, Liu HL, Cao ZM, Wang QN, Lyu WL, Bai YN. Traditional Chinese medicine for chronic atrophic gastritis: Efficacy, mechanisms and targets. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(9): 102053 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i9.102053]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Yu-Ning Bai, Department of Gastroenterology, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, No. 5 Beixiange, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China. byn-1973@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2025; 31(9): 102053 Published online Mar 7, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i9.102053
Traditional Chinese medicine for chronic atrophic gastritis: Efficacy, mechanisms and targets
Li Wang, Yan-Jie Lian, Jin-Sheng Dong, Ming-Kun Liu, Hong-Liang Liu, Zheng-Min Cao, Qing-Nan Wang, Wen-Liang Lyu, Yu-Ning Bai
Li Wang, Jin-Sheng Dong, Ming-Kun Liu, Hong-Liang Liu, Yu-Ning Bai, Department of Gastroenterology, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China
Yan-Jie Lian, Division of Cardiovascular, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China
Zheng-Min Cao, Wen-Liang Lyu, Department of Infectious Diseases, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China
Qing-Nan Wang, Department of Dermatology, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China
Co-first authors: Li Wang and Yan-Jie Lian.
Co-corresponding authors: Wen-Liang Lyu and Yu-Ning Bai.
Author contributions: Wang L and Lian YJ should be considered co-first authors because they contribute significantly to the manuscript in several key areas, including paper selection, literature collection, and manuscript composition. Wang L, Lian YJ, Dong JS, Liu MK, Liu HL, Cao ZM and Wang QN reviewed and edited the manuscript; Lyu WL and Bai YN should be considered co-corresponding authors. They have made significant contributions to the article by guiding the literature analysis and drafting the content. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Scientific and Technological Innovation Project of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, No. CI2021A00806; High Level Chinese Medical Hospital Promotion Project, No. HLCMHPP2023086; and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Public Welfare Research Institutes, No. ZZ17-XRZ-041.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yu-Ning Bai, Department of Gastroenterology, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, No. 5 Beixiange, Xicheng District, Beijing 100053, China. byn-1973@163.com
Received: October 8, 2024 Revised: December 6, 2024 Accepted: January 21, 2025 Published online: March 7, 2025 Processing time: 134 Days and 1.7 Hours
Abstract
Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is an important stage of precancerous lesions of gastric cancer. Effective treatment and regulation of CAG are essential to prevent its progression to malignancy. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has shown multi-targeted efficacy in CAG treatment, with advantages in enhancing gastric mucosal barrier defense, improving microcirculation, modulating inflammatory and immune responses, and promoting lesion healing, etc. Clinical studies and meta-analyses indicate that TCM provides significant benefits, with specific Chinese herbal compounds and monomers demonstrating protective effects on the gastric mucosa through mechanisms including anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, and regulation of cellular proliferation and apoptosis, etc. Finally, it is pointed out that the efficacy of TCM in the treatment of CAG requires standardized research and unified standards, and constantly clarifies and improves the evaluation criteria of each dimension of gastric mucosal barrier function.
Core Tip: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) exerts a protective influence on chronic atrophic gastritis through multiple mechanisms, such as enhancing the gastric mucosal “mucus-bicarbonate” barrier, regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis, ameliorating microcirculation, modulating immune responses, and influencing intestinal microecology. Specific TCM compounds and monomers, for instance, berberine, morroniside, and notoginsenoside R1, exhibit therapeutic potential by targeting inflammation, oxidative stress, and gastric mucosal defense. It is evident that TCM is a potential treatment. Nevertheless, the standardization of TCM research and clinical practices is indispensable for optimizing the management of chronic atrophic gastritis.
