Research Progress on Mechanism of Yiguanjian Intervention in Liver Cirrhosis / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Liver cirrhosis caused by the repeated action of one or more causes is a pathological stage characterized by diffuse fibrosis of the liver parenchyma， formation of false lobules and regenerative nodules， portal hypertension which caused by abnormal blood vessels inside and outside the liver. The progression of cirrhosis to decompensation is characterized by severe liver damage， with ascites， gastroesophageal varices bleeding， hepatic encephalopathy and other complications， and most of the treatments are symptomatic， with high mortality and poor prognosis. At present， the traditional Chinese medicine treatment of decompensated cirrhosis can not only effectively improve liver function， but also significantly improve the 5-year survival rate of patients， which suggests that Chinese medicine has potential advantages in preventing and treating end-stage liver disease， and promoting liver cirrhosis tissue reconstruction. Modern Chinese medicine doctors believe that liver cirrhosis is mainly caused by Qi Yin deficiency （liver， spleen， kidney），internal invasion of damp-heat epidemic toxin， and collateral stasis. Deficiency of liver and kidney Yin is a common symptom of decompensated cirrhosis. Yiguanjian， one of Kidney-Nourishing and Liver-Replenishing decoction in traditional Chinese medicine ， is the representative prescription for modern clinical treatment of chronic liver disease with "deficiency of liver and kidney Yin" syndrome. Yiguanjian， created by WEI Yu-zhen （WEI Zhi-xiu）in the Qing Dynasty， Contained in "Xu Ming Yi Lei An ". Clinical studies show that Yiguanjian can effectively improve liver function in patients with liver cirrhosis， promote ascites resolution， and reduce the occurrence of hepatic encephalopathy and other related complications. Experimental research has suggested that Yiguanjian has the characteristics of multi-path， multi-level， and multi-target comprehensive regulation. The mechanism of prevention and treatment of liver cirrhosis may be mainly related to anti-oxidative stress， improving liver inflammation， improving liver cell biosynthesis， inhibiting hepatic stellate cell activation， reducing collagen deposition， improving sinusoidal vascularization and promoting liver cell regeneration. This paper reviews the progress of clinical and experimental research of Yiguanjian in the treatment of liver cirrhosis in the past 5 years， to provide some references for the clinical application and in-depth study of Yiguanjian.