Cui Jing, May Brian H, Lin Wenmin, Luo Qiulan, Zhang Anthony Lin, Guo Xinfeng, Lu Chuanjian, Li Yunying, Xue Charlie C
China-Australia International Research Centre for Chinese Medicine, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia.
The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and The Second Clinical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510120, China.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2025 May 6;25(1):165. doi: 10.1186/s12906-025-04895-x.
Rhinosinusitis is an inflammation of the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity. It is managed with intra-nasal steroids, nasal saline irrigation, oral antibiotics and/or biologics. Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) have long been used for nasal disorders, including rhinosinusitis, and feature in Chinese clinical guidelines for rhinosinusitis. Systematic reviews suggest some CHM formulations may be beneficial for the management of this condition.
This text mining study used an established methodology to search a database containing the full texts of more than 1,150 classical and pre-modern Chinese medicine books to identify references to disorders similar to rhinosinusitis, and the CHMs used as interventions. Ten search terms relevant to names of disorders in classical books and the major symptoms of rhinosinusitis were identified. Search results were downloaded, categorised, and analysed descriptively in SPSS®. Qualitative comparisons were made with the modern clinical Chinese medicine literature.
Searches found 436 oral CHM formulae with 3,059 ingredients, 81 nasal or other topical CHMs with 142 ingredients, and 112 single natural products from classical pharmacopoeia used orally and/or topically. The earliest reference to a disorder similar to rhinosinusitis was in a Chinese medical book written approximately 2,000 years ago. Three oral CHM formulae from the search have been tested in randomised controlled trials and one is included in a clinical guideline. A sample of 13 modern specialist textbooks on Chinese otorhinolaryngology still recommended nine of the oral classical formulae. Three of the seven herbs frequently included in the classical pharmacopoeia are still listed in the official Chinese pharmacopoeia for rhinosinusitis. Nasal formulae found in classical searches differed to those tested in randomised controlled trials, although the most frequent ingredient in the classical formulae was also frequent in modern formulae. The pharmacological actions of the seven most frequently used herbs included anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, antioxidant and/or anti-bacterial effects that may have contributed to their observed effects.
Results for classical interventions and the modern clinical literature overlapped for the higher frequency oral formulae and their ingredients, showing evidence of temporal continuity in their use for rhinosinusitis management. Gaps in the clinical and experimental evidence were identified, so there remains scope for further research into these CHMs to develop new interventions for rhinosinusitis.
鼻窦炎是鼻窦和鼻腔的炎症。其治疗方法包括使用鼻内类固醇、鼻腔盐水冲洗、口服抗生素和/或生物制剂。中药长期以来一直用于治疗包括鼻窦炎在内的鼻腔疾病，并且在中国鼻窦炎临床指南中有所提及。系统评价表明，一些中药配方可能对这种疾病有效。
本数据挖掘研究采用既定方法，在一个包含1150多本古典和近现代中医书籍全文的数据库中进行检索，以识别与鼻窦炎相似疾病的参考文献以及用作干预措施的中药。确定了10个与古典书籍中疾病名称和鼻窦炎主要症状相关的检索词。检索结果被下载、分类，并在SPSS®中进行描述性分析。与现代临床中医文献进行了定性比较。
检索发现了含有3059种成分的436种口服中药配方、含有142种成分的81种鼻腔或其他局部用中药，以及112种来自古典药典的可口服和/或局部使用的单一天然产物。最早提及与鼻窦炎相似疾病的是大约2000年前撰写的一本中医书籍。检索出的三种口服中药配方已在随机对照试验中进行了测试，其中一种被纳入临床指南。13本现代中医耳鼻喉科专科教材样本中仍推荐了九种口服古典配方。古典药典中经常包含的七种草药中有三种仍被列入中国官方鼻窦炎药典。古典检索中发现的鼻腔配方与随机对照试验中测试的配方不同，尽管古典配方中最常见的成分在现代配方中也很常见。七种最常用草药的药理作用包括抗炎、抗过敏、抗氧化和/或抗菌作用，这些作用可能有助于其观察到治疗效果。
古典干预措施与现代临床文献在高频口服配方及其成分方面存在重叠，表明它们在鼻窦炎治疗中的使用具有时间连续性。确定了临床和实验证据方面的差距，因此仍有进一步研究这些中药以开发鼻窦炎新干预措施的空间。
