Shenling Baizhu San (SBS), combined with mesalamine, can treat ulcerative colitis effectively by changing gut microbiota structures and increasing tryptophan metabolite levels.
The methodology involved conducting a prospective cohort study to explore the potential therapeutic effects of SBS, used as a complementary medicine with mesalamine, on ulcerative colitis patients. There were 48 patients included in the study, out of which 24 were a part of the control group and given just mesalamine, while the remaining patients in the experimental group were administered mesalamine along with SBS. The efficacy of these treatments was evaluated after an elapsed period of 8 weeks. The study utilized procedures like 16S rRNA sequencing to observe the structures of gut microbiota (GMB), and UPLC-MS/MS to analyze microbial tryptophan metabolites.
In terms of results discussion, the study noticed that the combination of SBS and mesalamine significantly enhanced the clinical symptoms of ulcerative colitis. This was observed through mucosal healing and reduced damage to the colon that the medicinal combination induced. The research also highlighted a novel discovery, the alteration of gut microbiota structures, and an observable increase in microbial levels of tryptophan metabolites when both SBS and mesalamine were used. This led to the conclusion that SBS acted as an effective supplementary therapy to the standard treatment, easing ulcerative colitis through an identified GMB-tryptophan metabolite axis.
