Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 21, 2017; 23(7): 1125-1138
Published online Feb 21, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i7.1125
Therapeutic mechanism of Yīn-Chén-Hāo decoction in hepatic diseases
Jian-Yuan Li, Hong-Yan Cao, Lin Sun, Run-Fei Sun, Chao Wu, Yan-Qin Bian, Shu Dong, Ping Liu, Ming-Yu Sun
Jian-Yuan Li, Hong-Yan Cao, Run-Fei Sun, Chao Wu, Yan-Qin Bian, Shu Dong, Ping Liu, Ming-Yu Sun, Key Laboratory of Liver and Kidney Diseases, Institute of Liver Diseases, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
Jian-Yuan Li, Hong-Yan Cao, Run-Fei Sun, Chao Wu, Yan-Qin Bian, Shu Dong, Ping Liu, Ming-Yu Sun, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
Jian-Yuan Li, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China
Lin Sun, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenyang 110033, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Li JY and Sun MY wrote the manuscript and were involved with project concept and submission; Cao HY, Sun L, Sun RF, Wu C, Bian YQ and Dong S performed data collection; Liu P and Sun MY revised the manuscript; all authors contributed to this manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation, No. 81273729; Major Project of Shanghai Municipal S and T Commission, No. 15DZ1900104; Innovative Research Team in Universities, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Clinical Medicine and Key Disciplines of Liver and Gall Bladder Diseases of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People’s Republic of China.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Ming-Yu Sun, Professor, Key Laboratory of Liver and Kidney Diseases, Institute of Liver Diseases, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China. mysun248@hotmail.com
Telephone: +86-21-20256520
Received: October 15, 2016
Peer-review started: October 19, 2016
First decision: December 2, 2016
Revised: December 16, 2016
Accepted: January 4, 2017
Article in press: January 4, 2017
Published online: February 21, 2017
Processing time: 127 Days and 18.7 Hours
Abstract

Yīn-Chén-Hāo decoction (YCHD) is a traditional Chinese medicine formula composed of capillaris (Artemisia capillaris), gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides), and rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) that is used for the treatment of damp-heat jaundice. In modern clinics, YCHD is mostly used for hepatic diseases. This review summarizes the biological activities of YCHD and its medical applications. The main active compounds of YCHD are chlorogenic acid, rhein, geniposide, emodin, and scoparone. The pharmacological actions of YCHD include inhibition of hepatic steatosis, apoptosis, necrosis, anti-inflammation, and immune regulation. YCHD could be developed as a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of hepatic diseases.

Keywords: Yīn-Chén-Hāo decoction; Hepatic disease; Clinical application; Effector mechanism; Review

Core tip: Yīn-Chén-Hāo decoction (YCHD) was a classical prescription for more than 1800 years in China. This review summarizes the efficacy of YCHD in liver disease from clinical trials and its mechanisms of action in vitro and in vivo. Studies indicate that YCHD can modulate various molecular pathways in liver disease. YCHD is widely used in clinical settings for the treatment of liver diseases, and could be a safe and novel therapeutic drug for liver injury worldwide.