Core prescription pattern of Chinese herbal medicine for depressive disorders in Taiwan: A nationwide population-based study

Abstract

Background Depressive disorders (DD) affect not only mood and behavior but also various physical functions. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been shown to have some benefits in treating DD. However, one formula or one single herb might be not show high efficacy when used to treat depression. Thus, this study aimed to examine the core prescription pattern of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) among patients with DD in Taiwan as a reference for related research and clinical applications. Methods All patients, who had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder or minor depression or dysthymia without any other baseline diseases and had at least one CHM outpatient clinical visit from 2002 to 2011, were extracted from three randomly sampled cohorts, namely the 2000, 2005 and 2010 cohorts of the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan. The collected data was analyzed to explore the patterns of herbal products. Results There were 197,146 patients with a diagnosis of DD and of these 1806 subjects had only a diagnosis of DD and utilized CHM. The most common formula was Gan-Mai-Da-Zao-Tang (12.19%), while Suan-Zao-Ren (3.99%) was the most commonly prescribed single herb. The core pattern of prescriptions consisted of a combination of Gan-Mai-Da-Zao-Tang, Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San, Chai-Hu-Jia-Long-Gu-Mu-Li-Tang, He-Huan-Pi, Yuan-Zhi and Shi-Chang-Pu . Conclusions This study describes the CHM core prescription pattern used to treat patients in Taiwan with DD and it is a potential candidate for study in future pharmacological or clinical trials targeting DD.

Efficacy and safety of Gyejibokryeong-hwan (GBH) in major depressive disorder: study protocol for multicentre randomised controlled trial

“…The other herbal components of GBH include Cinnamomi Ramulus , Moutan Radicis Cortex , and Persicae Semen . The composition of GBH also differs from the frequently used prescription pattern recommended for depressive disorders in Taiwan [ 50 ]. Based on the results of in vivo studies of GBH, amelioration of depression is expected.…”

Identification of absorbed compounds of Xiao Yao San Jia Wei and pharmacokinetic study in depressed rats by force swimming stress

“… 12 Recently, XYSJW has become the first choice for treating depression, sleep disturbances, and anxiety disorder due to its good clinical manifestations and low side effects in China. 13 …”