Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Patterns and Their Association with Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Levels during the Natural History of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

The aim of this study is to investigate traditional Chinese medicine syndrome (TCMS) patterns and their association with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels during the natural history of chronic hepatitis B virus infection (CHB). Patients were categorized according to the phase of CHB, as follows: immune tolerance (ITP); immune clearance (ICP); low or nonreplication (LRP); reactivation (RAP); hepatic cirrhosis (HC); and primary liver cancer (PLC). TCMS patterns were classified among the following types: spleen-kidney deficiency (SKD); liver-qi depression (LQD); damp-heat in liver-gallbladder (LGDH); liver-kidney deficiency (LKD); and blood stasis blocking collateral (BSBC). HBsAg levels and other serological indicators were quantified for all patients and their association with TCMS was statistically analyzed and determined. Two hundred and eighty-nine patients with CHB were included. During the natural history of CHB, TCMS patterns were statistically different among the different phases (P < 0.001). The most frequently occurring syndromes among the six progressive phases were SKD, LGDH, LKD, LGDH, BSBC, and LGDH, respectively. The predominant patterns in the inactive stage (ITP + LRP), active stage (ICP + RAP), and late or advanced stage (HC + PLC) were SKD (31%), LGDH (51.8%) and BSBC (34.4%), respectively. Median HBsAg levels were also statistically different among the five patterns of TCMS (P < 0.001). The highest HBsAg levels were observed in SKD (4.48 log10 IU/mL). Medium levels were in LQD (3.91 log10 IU/mL) and LGDH (3.90 log10 IU/mL). The lowest HBsAg levels were in LKD (3.60 log10 IU/mL) and the second lowest levels in BSBC (3.81 log10 IU/mL). In addition, HBsAg levels in LKD and BSBC were significantly lower than those in SKD, LQD, and LGDH (P < 0.05 or 0.001). TCMS was altered during the natural history of CHB and correlated with HBsAg titers. This study could provide further insight into the therapy of CHB.

Addition and Subtraction Theory of TCM Using Xiao-Chaihu-Decoction and Naturopathy in Predicting Survival Outcomes of Primary Liver Cancer Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study.

To investigate the therapeutic effect of combined Xiao-Chaihu-Decoction and naturopathic medicine therapy on survival outcomes of patients' PLC. In XCHD group (n = 76), patients were treated with Xiao-Chaihu-Decoction in accordance with the addition and subtraction theory of TCM; in NM group (n = 89), patients were managed by naturopathic medicine; in combined group (n = 70), the same volume of Xiao-Chaihu-Decoction combined with naturopathic medicine procedures was applied. There were no evident statistical differences of age, gender, KPS score, body weight, smoking status, AFP levels, HbsAg status, TBIL levels, tumor diameters, and numbers among different groups, showing comparability among groups. No significant difference was found regarding the total remission rate and stability rate of tumors in patients treated by Xiao-Chaihu-Decoction and naturopathic medicine, except the combined therapy. KPS scores were significantly improved after treatment among groups. After treatment, 52.8% cases maintained a stable or slight increase in weight, of which 42.1%, 48.3%, and 70.0% cases maintained weight stably in the XCHD group, NM group, and combined treatment group, respectively. Xiao-Chaihu-Decoction associated with naturopathy may predict improved prognostic outcomes in PLC patients, along with improved remission and stability rates, increased KPS scores, and stable weight maintenance.

Changes in serum alanine aminotransferase levels in telbivudine versus lamivudine treatment for chronic hepatitis B: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: A meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of telbivudine (TBV) and lamivudine (LAM) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), assessed via changes in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. METHOD: The electronic literature databases PubMed®, Embase®, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CISCOM, CINAHL, Google Scholar, China BioMedicine and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for relevant studies. The effect of TBV and LAM treatment on serum ALT was assessed using standard mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: The meta-analysis included six studies (TBV n = 202; LAM, n = 208). Post-treatment ALT levels were significantly lower than pretreatment values for both TBV and LAM (TBV: SMD = 3.00, 95%CI 1.91, 4.09; LAM: SMD = 2.33, 95%CI 1.58, 3.07). Post-treatment ALT was significantly lower after treatment with TBV than LAM (SMD = 0.58, 95%CI 0.21, 0.94). CONCLUSION: Both LAM and TBV are effective in normalizing ALT levels in patients with CHB, but TBV may be a better choice due to its lower rates of drug resistance.

Chinese medicine syndrome distribution of chronic hepatitis B virus carriers in immunotolerant phase.

OBJECTIVE: To explore Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome distribution of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers in immunotolerant phase (ITP). METHODS: One hundred and eighty-five chronic HBV carriers in ITP, seen in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from May 2009 to December 2010, were admitted in an observational study under the guidance of CM. Patients' CM symptoms and signs, demographics, liver biochemistries, and qualitative HBV DNA were recorded in the questionnaires. CM syndromes were then differentiated to 15 detailed types and analyzed by generalization. Lastly, the location, pathogenic factors and nature of the disease were also assessed. RESULTS: When CM syndrome patterns were differentiated to 15 types, there were 27 (15%) no syndrome cases, 94 (50%) single syndrome cases and 64 (35%) compound syndromes cases. The main detailed syndromes included Liver (Gan)-qi depression (LQD), Kidney (Shen)-qi deficiency (KQD), Spleen (Pi)-qi deficiency (SQD) and Kidney-yang deficiency (KYAD). After CM syndromes generalized to five types, their frequency was Spleen-Kidney deficiency (SKD)>LQD>inner dampness-heat retention (IDHR)>Liver-Kidney deficiency (LKD)>blood stasis blocking collateral (BSBC). SKD and LQD occupied 64%. The disease location included Liver, Gallbladder (Dan), Spleen, Stomach (Wei) and Kidney. The pathogenic factors were mainly qi stagnation, qi deficiency, yang deficiency, concurrently dampness-heat and blood stasis. The deficiency syndrome was more than excess syndrome in its nature. CONCLUSIONS: Most of chronic HBV carriers in ITP have their CM syndrome, and the most common types are SKAD, LQD. This study suggests that the natural history may be improved through breaking the state of immune tolerance or shorten the time of ITP by strengthening Spleen-Kidney and reliving Liver qi.