Traditional Chinese medicine, liver fibrosis, intestinal flora: is there any connection?-a narrative review.

This paper aims to analyze how intestinal flora regulates liver fibrosis pathogenesis and to evaluate the regulatory effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on the intestinal flora, providing new insights into liver fibrosis treatment. Destruction of the intestinal microbiome can lead to liver fibrosis development, accelerating the intestinal microbiome's disruption. TCM can effectively regulate the intestinal flora, helping prevent and treat liver fibrosis. This review discusses the mechanisms behind intestinal flora changes in liver fibrosis and how TCM can regulate these changes. We searched PubMed, the Wanfang database, and CNKI for "liver fibrosis", "intestinal microflora", and "intestinal microbiota" and reviewed the retrieved literature. We detail the prevention and treatment options for liver fibrosis though the use of TCM in regulating intestinal flora. We also highlight the influence of the intestinal flora on liver fibrosis and present the research regarding the prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis using TCM. We also describe the effects of TCM on the intestinal flora. TCM can effectively regulate the intestinal flora to prevent and treat liver fibrosis through the liver-intestine axis.

[Effects of Bushen Jiedu Recipe and Jianpi Jiedu Recipe containing plasma on dendritic cells of chronic hepatitis B virus infection patients under different immune states].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of Bushen Jiedu Recipe (BJR) and Jianpi Jiedu Recipe (JJR) containing plasma on dendritic cells (DCs) of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection patients under different immune states. METHODS: Recruited were 36 chronic HBV infection outpatients from First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from April 2010 to January 2011. They were assigned to the immune tolerance group (18 cases) and the immune clearance group (18 cases).Another 10 healthy subjects were recruited as the healthy control group. Their anticoagulated peripheral venous blood was respectively collected. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and further extracted for incubating DCs. The DCs were intervened by BJR and JJR containing plasma. The morphology of DCs was identified. The expressions of CD1alpha, CD80, CD86, and HLA-DR were detected. The level of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in the supernatant was observed by ELISA. RESULTS: The CD80 expression level was lower in the immune clear group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P < 0.05). The expression levels of CD80, CD86, and HLA-DR were lower in the immune tolerance group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P < 0.05).The IFN-alpha expression level was lower in the immune tolerance group and the immune clearance group than in the healthy control group before intervention (P < 0.05). The expression levels of CD80, HLA-DR, and IFN-alpha were lower in the immune tolerance group than in the immune clearance group before intervention (P < 0.05). Compared with the same group before intervention, the CD80 expression significantly increased in each treatment group (P < 0.05). After intervention the expression levels of CD80 and HLA-DR were higher in the immune tolerance group than in the immune clearance group in the same time phase, and the CD86 expression level was higher in the BJR group than in the immune clearance group in the same time phase, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The middle dose BJR and the small dose JJR both could promote the recovery of DCs in chronic HBV infection patients. Besides, BJR showed more prominent effects on the function of DCs in chronic HBV infection patients in the immune tolerance stage.