Analysis and discussion of the rules of treatment of IgAN by Professor Chen Yiping by means of the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Support System"

Abstract

Objective To explore and summarize the clinical experience and medication rules in IgA nephropathy by the famous Chinese doctor Chen Yiping, one of the founders of the nephrology of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine in China. Methods Data of 500 typical cases of IgA nephropathy treated by Professor Chen Yiping were collected. The TCM Inheritance Support System (V2.5) was used for data mining and cluster analysis in terms of drug characteristics, compatibility rules, addition and subtraction with the syndrome, and treatment principles and methods. The common methods and prescriptions of Professor Chen Yiping for different clinical manifestations of IgA nephropathy were summarized. Entropy clustering was used to analyze the common medicine pairs for common symptoms. Results 500 cases were included in the study, with a total of 1, 499 medical records. Totally, 251 kinds of drugs were used. The frequencies of 20 common traditional Chinese medicines used from high to low were Atractylodes rhizome, raw Astragalus, Coix seed, and Polygonati rhizome, etc. For IgA nephropathy characterized by hematuria, the method of nourishing Yin and clearing heat as well as invigorating the spleen and eliminating dampness was used. For IgA nephropathy characterized by proteinuria, the method of smoothing Shaoyang as well as nourishing the spleen and kidneys was used. For IgA nephropathy characterized by chronic renal insufficiency, the method of mediating Sanjiao as well as activating the blood circulation and draining the turbidity was used. For IgA nephropathy characterized by renal insufficiency complicated with hyperuricemia, the method of tonifying the kidneys as well as activating the blood circulation and draining the turbidity was used. Conclusion By means of the data mining techniques, the results supports the academic ideas of Professor Chen Yiping in the treatment of IgA nephropathy through combination of both cold and warm medicines, both bitter and hot medicines, both tonification and purgation medicines, and the method of clearing the Sanjiao. Key words: Chen Yiping; Association rules and entropy clustering analysis; Traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support system; IgA nephropathy