Abstract
Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a highly complex pathophysiologic disease, which shows low recovery and high relapse rates. Therefore, a growing number of clinicians and patients are looking for alternative herbal medicine. Banha-Sasim-Tang (BST) is an herbal prescription for treating a wide range of dyspepsia in traditional Korean medicine (TKM). Aim of the study: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of BST on FD in patients with psychological stress-related symptoms and to investigate the involvement of ghrelin. This study is registered at https://cris.nih.go.kr/with the identification number KCT 0002811. Materials and methods: A total of 31 participants with FD who met the Rome IV criteria and the psychological stress-related pattern were enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, and controlled study. Participants were randomly assigned to the BST group (10 g twice daily for 4 weeks) or placebo group. The primary endpoint was a change in the Nepean Dyspepsia Index–Korean (NDI-K) score. The secondary endpoints were changes in the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores and plasma ghrelin level. Results: All participants completed the study (n = 15 for BST, n = 16 for placebo). BST decreased NDI-K scores compared with placebo, but the difference was not statistically significant (37.40 ± 27.40 vs 22.50 ± 23.85, p = 0.12). VAS scores and plasma total ghrelin levels were significantly improved in patients who were treated with BST (3.19 ± 1.60 vs 1.38 ± 2.85, p = 0.03 for VAS and 105.69 ± 287.89 vs -142.31 ± 314.32, p = 0.03 for total ghrelin). No BST-related adverse effects were observed during the trial. Conclusion: Our results indicate the clinical potential of BST for FD patients and are the first study to show the modulation of plasma ghrelin as one of its corresponding mechanisms. Clinical Trial Registration: https://cris.nih.go.kr/, identifier KCT 0002811.
Highlights
Functional dyspepsia is a recurrent or persistent dyspeptic symptom group that lasts more than 6 months but does not have explainable organic causes (Stanghellini et al, 2016)
Aim of the study: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of BST on Functional dyspepsia (FD) in patients with psychological stress-related symptoms and to investigate the involvement of ghrelin
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores and plasma total ghrelin levels were significantly improved in patients who were treated with BST (3.19 ± 1.60 vs 1.38 ± 2.85, p 0.03 for VAS and 105.69 ± 287.89 vs -142.31 ± 314.32, p 0.03 for total ghrelin)
Summary
Functional dyspepsia is a recurrent or persistent dyspeptic symptom group that lasts more than 6 months but does not have explainable organic causes (Stanghellini et al, 2016). Several pathogeneses of FD have been reported, such as Helicobacter pylori or other infections, visceral hypersensitivity, low-grade mucosal inflammation, delayed gastric emptying (Talley and Walker, 2019). This highly complex pathology limits conventional therapy, and a growing number of clinicians and patients are alternatively looking for herbal medicine from a personalized and multitarget medical outlook (Chiarioni et al, 2018). Several clinical studies have shown the beneficial effects of BST against gastric dyspepsia and esophageal reflux symptoms (Gan et al, 2014; Shin et al, 2017). Banha-Sasim-Tang (BST) is an herbal prescription for treating a wide range of dyspepsia in traditional Korean medicine (TKM)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
