Research on the prescription characteristics in treatment of acute and chronic urticaria with integrative acupuncture and medicines based on data mining technology

To analyze the characteristics of point prescriptions for acute and chronic urticaria treated with acupuncture using complex network and data mining, so as to provide the basis for acupoint selection and the approaches to clinical treatment of acute and chronic urticaria.

The clinical trials of acupuncture in treatment of urticaria were systematically searched from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP database (VIP), Wanfang database (WanFang), SinoMed and PubMed. According to the screening criteria, the “database of acupuncture for acute and chronic urticaria” was established. IBM SPSS Modeler18.0, Cytoscape3.9.0, Origin2021, Gephi0.9.2 and other softwares were used for frequency analysis, association rule analysis and cluster analysis.

A total of 352 articles were included, and 158 acupuncture prescriptions were extracted, involving 76 points. The analysis focused on main acupoints, and the laws of acupoint selection and medications based on syndrome differentiation. The results showed that the meridian with the highest use frequency of acupuncture was the bladder meridian of foot-taiyang. The top 6 acupoints with the highest use frequency included Quchi (LI11), Xuehai (SP10), Zusanli (ST36), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Geshu (BL17) and Feishu (BL13). Acupuncture was delivered for urticaria in terms of “syndrome differentiation and treatment” to determine the principle, and acupuncture was combined with medication as the main regimen. Among reinforcing and reducing techniques, the neutral supplementation and drainage method is the most frequently used. In the acupoint and herbal prescriptions for combined acupuncture-medication therapy of chronic urticaria: the 3 strongest acupoint pairings were Quchi (LI11) and Xuehai (SP10), Quchi (LI11) and Zusanli (ST36), and Xuehai (SP10) and Sanyinjiao (SP6). The 3 strongest herb pairs were Jingjie (Schizonepeta) and Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia), Gancao (Licorice) and Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia), and Danggui (Angelica sinensis) and Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia). The three strongest herb-acupoint associations were Xuehai (SP10) and Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia), Quchi (LI11) and Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia), and Zusanli (ST36) and Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia).

Acupuncture is commonly combined with medication in treatment of acute and chronic urticaria. The combined therapy can solve the insufficiency presented in treatment with either simple delivery of acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine, give a full play to the advantages of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and advance the therapeutic effect.