Objective

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To analyze the medication patterns of patented Chinese herbal formulas for the treatment of gouty arthritis （GA） using data mining technology， providing references for GA drug research and new drug development.

Methods

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Patented Chinese herbal formulas for GA were retrieved from the website of the People's Republic of China National Intellectual Administration （CNIPA） and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI） patent database. A database of oral Chinese herbal patent formulas was established， and data mining was conducted using the Ancient and Modern Medical Records Cloud Platform V2.3.7 software.

Results

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①A total of 575 patented Chinese herbal formulas for treating GA were included， involving 674 Chinese herbs. The top 10 most frequently used herbs were Niuxi （Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix）， Yiyiren （Coicis Semen）， Tufuling （Smilacis Glabrae Rhizoma）， Huangbo （Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）， Cangzhu （Atractylodis Rhizoma）， Gancao （Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma）， Fuling （Poria）， Weilingxian （Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma）， Bixie （Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Rhizoma）， and Danggui （Angelicae Sinensis Radix）. ②The herbs were mainly warm， neutral， and cold in nature， with sweet， bitter， and pungent flavors being predominant. Most herbs were attributed to the liver， spleen， and lung meridians. ③Association rule analysis showed commonly used herb pairs such as Huangbo （Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）—Cangzhu （Atractylodis Rhizoma）， Huangbo （Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）—Niuxi （Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix）， Cangzhu （Atractylodis Rhizoma）—Niuxi （Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix）， Tufuling （Smilacis Glabrae Rhizoma）—Bixie （Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Rhizoma）， Tufuling （Smilacis Glabrae Rhizoma）—Cangzhu （Atractylodis Rhizoma）， Cangzhu （Atractylodis Rhizoma）—Yiyiren （Coicis Semen）， Bixie （Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Rhizoma）—Niuxi （Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix）， and Bixie （Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Rhizoma）—Cangzhu （Atractylodis Rhizoma）. Cluster analysis identified three categories of herb combinations： category one for dampness-eliminating and turbidity-resolving， heat-clearing and toxicity-relieving， guiding blood downward； category two for wind-dispelling and dampness-eliminating， tendon-relaxing and collateral-activating， urination-promoting and swelling-reducing； and category three for qi-tonifying and spleen-strengthening， blood-nourishing and blood-activating， cold-dissipating and exterior-releasing. Complex network analysis identified six core herbs： Bixie （Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Rhizoma）， Tufuling （Smilacis Glabrae Rhizoma）， Yiyiren （Coicis Semen）， Cangzhu （Atractylodis Rhizoma）， Niuxi （Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix）， and Huangbo （Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）.

Conclusions

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The patented Chinese herbal formulas for treating GA mainly use warm-natured， sweet-flavored herbs， mostly attributed to the liver meridian. They function to clear heat and relieve toxicity， dispel wind-dampness， promote diuresis， and relieve stranguria. Modifications are often based on formulas like Simiao Fang， Bixie Shenshi Tang， and Tufuling Bixie Tang.