Analysis on Prescription Laws of Oral Formulae for Treating Color Spots Based on Dictionary of TCM Prescriptions and Discovery of New Prescriptions

TIAN Ya-juan, LI Qin-qing, DU Juan, LI Xiao-qing, YANG Ji-hong, YAN Jing-lai, HE Wen-bin*

(Shanxi Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Encephalopathy, Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan 030024, China)

Abstract: Objective To analyze the prescription laws of oral formulae for treating color spots based on TCM Inheritance Support System (TCMISS); To explore the new prescriptions; To provide references for the treatment of color spots. Methods Based on the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Materia Medica, the terminology of prescriptions for treating color spots written in the Dictionary of TCM Prescriptions were standardized. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the effective prescriptions were entered into the system. Statistical analysis was carried out from the aspects of medicine frequency, core medicinal pairs, medicinal association, properties, tastes and meridian entry by using association rules, improved mutual information method, unsupervised entropy clustering and other methods, and new prescriptions were discovered. Results Totally 41 oral formulae for the treatment of color spots were screened, involving 170 kinds of Chinese materia medica, among which 33 were commonly used Chinese materia medica, with the dominant medicine of spicy, sweet and mild, 10 commonly used medicinal pairs, 18 core prescriptions,

and 9 new prescriptions. Conclusion The analytical results of the ancient formulae can provide useful clues for the research and development of new drugs for the prevention and treatment of color spots and the inheritance and innovation of clinical medication, but its safety and effectiveness need further verification.

Key words: oral formulae; prescription laws; color spots; meridian entry; data mining; TCM Inheritance Support System (TCMISS)