Liujunzi decoction (LJZD), a traditional tonic formula for treating “qi” deficiency of the spleen and the syndrome of phlegm dampness, can be used to prevent and treat chemotherapy-induced anorexia (CIA). The chemical constituents of LJZD are rather complex; therefore, it is of great significance to establish an effective and economic quality control method to ensure the quality consistency and stability of LJZD. With one chromatographic condition, 13 common peaks detected at 203 nm were selected to establish a fingerprint similarity model and 7 chemical constituents were identified as ephedrine hydrochloride, liquiritin, hesperidin, ginsenoside Rg1, jujuboside A, 6-gingerol, and atractylenolide III. Ten batches of LJZD were divided into two groups by cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA), and four main components (ephedrine hydrochloride, hesperidin, ginsenoside Rg1, and jujuboside A) of LJZD were analyzed. Also, the analysis results were combined with network pharmacology and molecular docking technology to further predict how LJZD could prevent and treat CIA. We found that these four main components of LJZD spontaneously combined with four CIA targets (SRC, PIK3R1, MAPK1, and AKT1). In this study, we established the fingerprint of LJZD for the first time, and through a comprehensive multiassessment method, we also successively analyzed the fingerprint and chemometrics.

Tumor-associated anorexia, mainly including cancerous anorexia and chemotherapy-induced anorexia, severely reduces the life quality of cancer patients but lacks of effective control until now. Liujunzi decoction (LJZD), a classical tonifying formula in traditional Chinese medicine, has promising effect in preventing and treating many kinds of anorexia. A growing number of evidence showed that LJZD is able to improve tumor-associated anorexia. Up to March 2022, a total of 58 articles studying LJZD or Rikkunshito (the name of LJZD in Japanese herbal medicine) in the treatment of tumor-associated anorexia are searched out in PubMed. This paper summarizes the effect of LJZD in ameliorating tumor-associated anorexia, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the clinical application of LJZD in treating tumor-associated anorexia, laying foundation for further research.

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