Distribution features of TCM syndrome types and syndrome elements of primary biliary cholangitis:a literature review

Objective To investigate the distribution features of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes types and syndrome elements of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) via literature research, and to provide a basis for further research on PBC syndromes and features.Methods CNKI, CBM, CQVIP, Wanfang Data, and Pub Med were searched for articles on PBC published up to August 31, 2017.Note Express2.0 was used for the screening of articles on PBC syndromes, and SPSS19.0 was used for statistical analysis.Results A total of 11 articles with 849 cases were included, and 19 PBC syndrome types and 18 syndrome elements were identified.A statistical analysis was performed from the aspects of the frequency of syndromes and the constituent ratio of cases, and the results showed that the core syndrome types of PBC were liver-kidney yin deficiency syndrome and the syndrome of stagnation of liver qi and spleen deficiency; major syndrome elements of disease location were the liver, the spleen, and the kidney; major syndrome elements reflecting the nature of disease included qi deficiency, dampness, yin deficiency, qi stagnation, blood stasis, and heat.Major syndrome types in the clinical symptom stage included stagnation of liver qi and spleen deficiency, liver-kidney yin deficiency, and deficiency of spleen qi and stomach qi, and major syndrome elements reflecting the nature of disease included qi deficiency, qi stagnation, yin deficiency, and dampness.Major syndrome types of decompensated cirrhosis included liver-kidney yin deficiency, deficiency of liver and kidney, and dampness and blood stasis; major syndrome elements of disease location were the liver and the kidney; major syndrome elements reflecting the nature of disease included yin deficiency, dampness, blood stasis, and deficiency of essence.Conclusion Distribution features of common syndrome types and syndrome elements of PBC summarized in this article lay a foundation for the development of the standards for TCM syndrome differentiation of PBC.