Hao WR, Cheng CY, Cheng TH. Enhancing ulcerative colitis treatment with traditional Chinese medicine. World J Clin Cases 2024; 12(30): 6358-6360 [PMID: 39464320 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i30.6358]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Tzu-Hurng Cheng, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, No. 91 Xueshi Road, North District, Taichung City 404333, Taiwan. thcheng@mail.cmu.edu.tw
Research Domain of This Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
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 Clin Cases. Oct 26, 2024; 12(30): 6358-6360 Published online Oct 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i30.6358
Enhancing ulcerative colitis treatment with traditional Chinese medicine
Wen-Rui Hao, Chun-Yao Cheng, Tzu-Hurng Cheng
Wen-Rui Hao, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Shuang Ho Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City 23561, Taiwan
Wen-Rui Hao, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City 11002, Taiwan
Chun-Yao Cheng, Department of Medical Education, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100225, Taiwan
Chun-Yao Cheng, Department of Ophthalmology, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei City 10633, Taiwan
Tzu-Hurng Cheng, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung City 404333, Taiwan
Author contributions: Hao WR and Cheng CY wrote the paper; Cheng TH revised the paper; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare having no conflicts of interest.
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: Tzu-Hurng Cheng, PhD, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, No. 91 Xueshi Road, North District, Taichung City 404333, Taiwan. thcheng@mail.cmu.edu.tw
Received: June 20, 2024 Revised: July 17, 2024 Accepted: July 23, 2024 Published online: October 26, 2024 Processing time: 75 Days and 19.7 Hours
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease, particularly ulcerative colitis (UC), poses significant treatment challenges due to its chronic nature and potential for severe complications. This editorial reviews a recent network meta-analysis that evaluated the efficacy of and highlighted the superior outcomes achieved by combining each of five traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulations with mesalazine for the adjuvant treatment of UC. Clinical outcomes included enhanced mucosal healing, improved quality of life, and reduced recurrence rates. Additionally, the combination therapy resulted in a lower incidence of adverse reactions compared with mesalazine monotherapy. Despite these promising results, limitations such as variability in study quality and TCM dosage highlight the need for further high-quality, large-sample, multicenter randomized controlled trials. This editorial underscores the potential of TCM in enhancing UC management and calls for more rigorous research to substantiate these findings and refine clinical guidelines.
Core Tip: This editorial highlights the promising role of the combination of mesalazine and traditional Chinese medicine formulations in the adjuvant treatment of ulcerative colitis. The findings from a network meta-analysis suggest that traditional Chinese medicine can significantly enhance clinical efficacy, reduce disease recurrence, and improve patient quality of life, while maintaining a lower incidence of adverse reactions.
