Research Progress on Lichongtang in Treatment of Uterine Leiomyoma / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Uterine leiomyoma （UL）， the most common benign tumor of the reproductive system in women of childbearing age， is characterized by clinical symptoms such as increased menstrual flow， prolonged menstrual period， breast tenderness，backache， lower abdominal pain and mass in the lower abdomen. With the continuous progress of modern society， the age of women's marriage and childbirth is gradually pushed back， which to a certain extent has led to an increase in the probability of modern women suffering from UL. Relevant literature shows that the incidence of UL is about 70%， and 25%-50% of the patients have clinical symptoms， seriously endangering women's physical health. The prevention and treatment of UL by modern medicine is currently limited to two aspects： drug control of estrogen and progesterone levels and surgical removal. Traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）has shown obvious advantages in improving the clinical symptoms of UL patients， with very broad application prospects as it can regulate body's Qi and blood on the basis of syndrome differentiation， treatment and overall concepts. Lichongtang， as a famous TCM prescription for replenishing Qi， activating blood and removing blood stasis， was created by ZHANG Xi-chun， a famous Chinese medicine doctor in the Qing dynasty， and recorded in the Records of Tradition Chinese and Western Medicine in Combination. It is widely used in the field of gynecological diseases in clinical practice. Studies have shown that Lichongtang is effective in treating UL. Clinical observations show that Lichongtang can significantly relieve the clinical symptoms of UL patients such as prolonged menstrual period， dysmenorrhea， waist and abdomen swelling and irregular vaginal bleeding， with the characteristics of stable curative effect， high safety， less side effect and low recurrence rate. The experimental results show that Lichongtang has a comprehensive regulatory effect on UL through inhibiting the proliferation of UL cells and inducing apoptosis， reducing serum estrogen and progesterone level， regulating the apoptosis pathway of tumor cells， and promoting the degradation of extracellular matrix（ECM）. After retrieval in PubMed， CNKI and other databases， the authors made a review by summarizing the theories， clinical efficacy and action mechanisms of Lichongtang in the treatment of UL， in order to provide reference for the follow-up in-depth study of pharmacological mechanism of Lichongtang and its further clinical application and promotion.