Study of the Distribution Patterns of the Constituent Herbs in Classical Chinese Medicine Prescriptions Treating Respiratory Disease by Data Mining Methods

• Published in: Chinese journal of integrative medicine 2013-08, Vol.19 (8), p.621-628
• Main Authors: Fu, Xian-jun, Song, Xu-xia, Wei, Lin-bo, Wang, Zhen-guo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Data Mining - methods; Drug Combinations; Drug Prescriptions - classification; Drug Therapy, Combination - methods; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - administration & dosage; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - classification; Herb-Drug Interactions - physiology; Humans; Literature Research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Chinese Traditional - methods; Respiratory Tract Diseases - drug therapy; Respiratory Tract Diseases - epidemiology; Review Literature as Topic; 中国; 分布格局; 医学; 古典; 呼吸系统疾病; 处方药; 挖掘方法; 草药治疗
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402
• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-012-1090-2

Objective： To provide the distribution pattern and compatibility laws of the constituent herbs in prescriptions, for doctor＇s convenience to make decision in choosing correct herbs and prescriptions for treating respiratory disease. Methods： Classical prescriptions treating respiratory disease were selected from authoritative prescription books. Data mining methods （frequent itemsets and association rules） were used to analyze the regular patterns and compatibility laws of the constituent herbs in the selected prescriptions. Results： A total of 562 prescriptions were selected to be studied. The result exhibited that, Radix g/ycyrrhizae was the most frequently used in 47.2% prescriptions, other frequently used were Semen armeniacae amarum, Fructus schisandrae Chinese, Herba ephedrae, and Radix ginseng. Herbal ephedrae was always coupled with Semen armeniacae amarum with the confidence of 73.3%, and many herbs were always accompanied by Radix g/ycyrrhizae with high confidence. More over, Fructus schisandrae Chinese, Herba ephedrae and Rhizoma pinelliae was most commonly used to treat cough, dyspnoea and associated sputum respectively besides Radix glycyrrhizae and Semen armeniacae amarum. The prescriptions treating dyspnoea often used double herb group of Herba ephedrae ＆ Radix glycyrrhizae, while prescriptions treating sputum often used double herb group of Rhizoma pinel/iae ＆ Radix glycyrrhizae and Rhizoma pinelliae ＆ Semen armeniacae amarum, triple herb groups of Rhizoma pinelliae ＆ Semen armeniacae amarum ＆ Radix glycyrrhizae and Pericarpium citri reticu/atae ＆ Rhizoma pine/liae ＆ Radix glycyrrhizae. Couclusioas： The prescriptions treating respiratory disease showed common compatibility laws in using herbs and special compatibility laws for treating different respiratory symptoms. These principle patterns and special compatibility laws reported here could be useful for doctors to choose correct herbs and prescriptions in treating respiratory disease.