Effect of Liujunzi Decoction Following the Method of Banking up Earth for Generating Metal on Serum Phosphorylated P38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Objective To analyze the effect of Liujunzi Decoction on serum phosphorylated P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(p-P38MAPK)in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods A total of 112 patients with COPD of lung-spleen qi deficiency type who were treated in Hangzhou Lin'an District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from September 2020 to September 2022 were selected as the research objects.According to the treatment method,the patients were divided into an observation group and a control group,with 56 cases in each group.The control group was treated with conventional western medicine,and the observation group was treated with Liujunzi Decoction on the basis of treatment for the control group.Seven days constituted a course of treatment,and the two groups were treated for 3 months.The changes of lung function indicators,6-minute walking distance(6MWD),clinical chronic obstructive pulmonary disease questionnaire(CCQ)score,and serum levels of inflammatory factors and p-P38MAPK in the two groups were observed before and after treatment.Moreover,the clinical efficacy,incidence of adverse reactions and number of acute episodes within one year were compared between the two groups.Results(1)After 3 months of treatment,the total effective rate of the observation group was 94.64%(53/56),and that of the control group was 73.21%(41/56).The intergroup comparison(tested by chi-square test)showed that the curative effect of the observation group was significantly superior to that of the control group(P<0.01).(2)After treatment,the forced vital capacity(FVC),forced expiratory volume in one second(FEV1),FEV1/FVC and 6MWD in the two groups were increased(P<0.05),and the CCQ scores were decreased(P<0.05)when compared with those before treatment,and the increase of FVC,FEV1,FEV1/FVC and 6 MWD and the decrease of CCQ scores in the observation group were significantly superior to those in the control group(P<0.01).(3)After treatment,the levels of serum interleukin 4(IL-4),interleukin 6(IL-6),interleukin 8(IL-8)and p-P38MAPK in the two groups were lower than those before treatment(P<0.05),and the decrease in the observation group was significantly superior to that in the control group(P<0.01).(4)The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was 3.57%(2/56)and that in the control group was 7.14%(4/56),and there was no significant difference between the two groups(P>0.05).(5)The number of acute episodes within one year in the observation group was(0.68±0.12)times,which was significantly less than that in the control group[(1.46±0.37)times],and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.01).Conclusion Liujunzi Decoction exerts certain effect in the treatment of COPD patients with lung-spleen qi deficiency syndrome.It can effectively inhibit the activation of p-P38MAPK signaling pathway,relieve the symptoms such as expectoration and dyspnea,improve lung function,alleviate inflammatory response,reduce the number of acute episodes,and has high safety.