TITLE:
Exploring the Medication Rules of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Coronary Heart Disease Complicated with Depression Based on Data Mining
AUTHORS:
Chuncheng Zheng, Liqiang Yang, Qingqing Zeng
KEYWORDS:
Coronary Heart Disease Complicated by Depression, Treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine, Medication Rules, Data Mining
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.13 No.8,
August
26,
2025
ABSTRACT: Objective: To explore the medication and prescription rules of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compounds in the treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with depression, so as to provide data support for the treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with depression by the method of strengthening the spleen, soothing the liver, promoting blood circulation, and resolving phlegm, and to innovate ideas for clinical treatment. Methods: The data of TCM literature on the clinical treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with depression published publicly by April 30, 2025, were mined; a target database was constructed, and the TCM Inheritance Assistant System of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences was used to conduct statistical analyses on syndromes, drug frequencies, properties and flavors, meridian tropisms, efficacies, association rules, cluster analysis, etc. of the literature data. Results: A total of 154 studies, 157 effective TCM compounds, and 161 TCM herbs were included in this study. The main TCM syndromes of the disease were liver depression, qi stagnation, blood stasis, phlegm-blood stasis, spleen deficiency, qi deficiency, phlegm turbidity, etc.; the corresponding treatment principles included soothing the liver and relieving depression, promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, resolving phlegm and removing turbidity, calming the mind and stabilizing the will, strengthening the spleen and replenishing qi, etc.; 14 herbs, such as Bupleurum chinense, were high-frequency herbs. The properties and flavors of the drugs were mainly cold, warm, neutral, bitter, pungent, and sweet, and most of them entered the liver, spleen, lung, and heart meridians. The main efficacies of the drugs were tonifying deficiency, promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, and regulating qi. The results of the drug association rule analysis showed 21 pairs of drugs with high support and 27 drug associations with high confidence. The drug cluster analysis yielded 5 groups of clustered prescriptions. After removing duplicates and integrating the high-frequency clustered prescriptions (≥30 frequencies), the core prescription for the treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with depression was obtained (Bupleurum chinense, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Poria cocos, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Codonopsis pilosula, Atractylodes macrocephala, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Curcuma aromatica, Cyperus rotundus, Pinellia ternata, Trichosanthes kirilowii). Conclusion: The core pathogenesis of coronary heart disease complicated with depression is deficiency of both the heart and spleen, liver depression and qi stagnation, and mutual binding of phlegm and blood stasis. The disease location mainly involves the heart, liver, and spleen. The treatment is mainly based on strengthening the spleen, soothing the liver, promoting blood circulation, and resolving phlegm.