Department of Gastroenterology, The Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, No. 301 Yanchang Road, Shanghai, China.
Saudi J Gastroenterol. 2012 Jan-Feb;18(1):3-10. doi: 10.4103/1319-3767.91726.
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a refractory, chronic, and nonspecific disease occurred usually in the rectum and the entire colon. The etiopathology is probably related to dysregulation of the mucosal immune response toward the resident bacterial flora together with genetic and environmental factors. Several types of medications are used to control the inflammation or reduce symptoms. Herbal medicine includes a wide range of practices and therapies outside the realms of conventional Western medicine. However, there are limited controlled evidences indicating the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicines, such as aloe vera gel, wheat grass juice, Boswellia serrata, and bovine colostrum enemas in the treatment of UC. Although herbal medicines are not devoid of risk, they could still be safer than synthetic drugs. The potential benefits of herbal medicine could lie in their high acceptance by patients, efficacy, relative safety, and relatively low cost. Patients worldwide seem to have adopted herbal medicine in a major way, and the efficacy of herbal medicine has been tested in hundreds of clinical trials in the management of UC. The evidences on herbal medicine are incomplete, complex, and confusing, and certainly associated with both risks and benefits. There is a need for further controlled clinical trials of the potential efficacy of herbal medicine approaches in the treatment of UC, together with enhanced legislation to maximize their quality and safety.
溃疡性结肠炎（UC）是一种难治性、慢性和非特异性疾病，通常发生在直肠和整个结肠。其发病机制可能与黏膜免疫对常驻细菌菌群的反应失调有关，同时还涉及遗传和环境因素。有几种类型的药物可用于控制炎症或减轻症状。草药医学包括传统西方医学之外的广泛实践和疗法。然而，只有有限的对照证据表明传统中药如芦荟凝胶、小麦草汁、乳香、牛初乳灌肠在治疗溃疡性结肠炎方面的疗效。尽管草药并非没有风险，但它们可能比合成药物更安全。草药的潜在好处可能在于患者的高接受度、疗效、相对安全性和相对低成本。世界各地的患者似乎已经大量采用草药医学，并且草药医学的疗效已经在数百项临床试验中得到了验证，用于溃疡性结肠炎的治疗。关于草药的证据并不完整、复杂且令人困惑，并且肯定与风险和益处都有关联。需要进一步开展对照临床试验，以评估草药治疗溃疡性结肠炎的潜在疗效，并加强立法，以最大限度地提高其质量和安全性。
