[Efficacy and mechanism of acupuncture combined with Tongxieyaofang for diarrhea-type irritable bowel syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency].

OBJECTIVE: (TXYF) for diarrhea-type irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) of liver depression and spleen deficiency, and to explore its possible mechanism. METHODS: A total of 123 IBS-D patients with syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency were randomly divided into an acupuncture+TXYF group, a TXYF group and a medication group, 41 cases in each group. The patients in TXYF group were treated with oral administration of TXYF, three times a day. The patients in acupuncture+TXYF group were treated with oral administration of TXYF and routine acupuncture at Shangjuxu (ST 37), Tianshu (ST 25), Taichong (LR 3), Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and Zusanli (ST 36), once a day. The patients in medication group were treated with oral administration of pinaverium bromide, 50 mg, three times a day. All the treatment was given for four weeks. The total score of TCM syndrome scale, self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS) scores as well as the expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), vasoactive peptide (VIP) and MAPK signal pathway indicators of ERK1 mRNA and ERK2 mRNA were compared before and after treatment; the clinical effect was also compared. RESULTS: <0.05). CONCLUSION: acupoints combined with TXYF could effectively alleviate the clinical symptoms, improve anxiety and depression in IBS-D patients with syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency, and its mechanism may be related to regulating the expression of ERK1 mRNA and ERK2 mRNA in MAPK signaling pathway, and reducing the serum levels of CGRP and VIP.