Randomized Controlled Trial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. May 27, 2024; 16(5): 1377-1384
Published online May 27, 2024. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v16.i5.1377
Clinical study on microscopic syndrome differentiation and traditional Chinese medicine treatment for liver stomach disharmony in chronic gastritis
Chun-Yan Bai, Wei Tian, Qian Zhang
Chun-Yan Bai, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Beijing Aerospace General Hospital, Beijing 100076, China
Wei Tian, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, People’s Hospital of Hengshui, Hengshui 053000, Hebei Province, China
Qian Zhang, Department of Internal Medicine, Hebei Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Co-first authors: Chun-Yan Bai and Wei Tian.
Author contributions: Bai CY and Tian W proposed the concept of this study; Zhang Q verified the effectiveness of this study; Bai CY and Zhang Q jointly wrote the first draft; Tian W has made contributions in data collection; Zhang Q contributes to formal analysis; Bai CY and Tian W participated in the research; Zhang Q contributed to the visualization of this study. All authors jointly guide the research, review, and edit the manuscript. Bai CY and Tian W as co-first authors, have made equal contributions to this research work.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Beijing Aerospace General Hospital.
Clinical trial registration statement: This study is registered at the Clinical Registry. https://www.researchregistry.com (Researchregistry9837).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no potential conflicting interests related to this paper.
Data sharing statement: Data generated from this investigation are available upon reasonable quest from the corresponding author.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
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: Qian Zhang, MM, Attending Doctor, Department of Internal Medicine, Hebei Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, No. 7-1-703, Beijun Second District, Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China. yfwa254@163.com
Received: February 21, 2024
Revised: April 5, 2024
Accepted: April 11, 2024
Published online: May 27, 2024
Processing time: 92 Days and 0.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Chronic gastritis (CG) is a common gastrointestinal disorder characterized by inflammation of the stomach lining. Liver-stomach disharmony (LSD) syndrome is believed to contribute to CG symptoms.

AIM

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of microcosmic syndrome differentiation and Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) treatment in patients with CG and LSD syndrome.

METHODS

Sixty-four patients with CG and LSD syndrome were randomly divided into two groups: The treatment group received CHM based on microcosmic syndrome differentiation and the control group received conventional Western medicine. The treatment course lasted 12 wk. The primary outcome was improvement in dyspeptic symptoms, measured using the Nepean Dyspepsia Index. The secondary outcomes included the improvement rate of endoscopic findings, histopathological findings, and microcosmic syndrome scores and the incidence of adverse events.

RESULTS

After 12 wk of treatment, the treatment group showed significantly greater improvement in dyspeptic symptoms than the control group (93.75% vs 65.63%, P < 0.01). The treatment group also showed a significantly higher improvement rate in endoscopic findings than the control group (81.25% vs 53.13%, P < 0.05). The improvement rates of histopathological findings and microcosmic syndrome scores were not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05). No serious adverse events were observed in either group.

CONCLUSION

Microcosmic syndrome differentiation and CHM treatment can effectively improve dyspeptic symptoms and endoscopic findings in patients with CG and LSD syndrome and have a good safety profile. Further studies with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods are required to confirm the long-term efficacy and mechanism of action of this treatment.

Keywords: Chronic gastritis, Liver-stomach disharmony, Microcosmic syndrome differentiation, Chinese herbal medicine, Randomized controlled trial, Microcosmic syndrome scores

Core Tip: Microcosmic syndrome differentiation and Chinese herbal medicine treatment effectively improve dyspeptic symptoms and endoscopic findings in patients with chronic gastritis and liver-stomach disharmony syndrome. Long-term efficacy and mechanisms of this treatment require further investigation through larger-scale studies with extended follow-up periods.