Mechanism of action of heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs in the treatment of erosive gastritis

Table 1 Traditional Chinese medicine syndromes and representative prescriptions for erosive gastritis

Syndrome	Symptoms	Treatment method	Prescription
Damp-heat in the spleen and stomach	Distending epigastric pain, bitter taste in the mouth and halitosis, nausea and vomiting, sticky stools, yellow and greasy tongue coating, and slippery and rapid pulse	Clearing heat, drying dampness, regulating qi, and harmonizing the middle	Qingwei San
Mixed cold and heat	Distending epigastric pain, alternating chills and fever, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, unsatisfactory bowel movements, yellow and greasy tongue coating, and wiry and slippery pulse	Harmonizing cold and heat, regulating qi, and harmonizing the middle	Banxia Xiexin Tang
Liver and stomach with depressed heat	Distending epigastric pain radiating to hypochondria, which is exacerbated by emotional stress, irritability, and anger; bitter taste in the mouth; dry throat; red tongue with yellow coating; and wiry and rapid pulse	Soothing the liver, resolving depression, clearing heat, and harmonizing the stomach	Chaihu Shugan San
Blood stasis blocking the collaterals	Piercing epigastric pain that is localized and worse at night; dark purple tongue or ecchymosis; and choppy pulse	Activating blood, transforming stasis, regulating qi, and relieving pain	Jinlingzi San
Spleen and stomach deficiency	Dull epigastric pain that is relieved by warmth and pressure, fullness after eating, poor appetite and early satiety, fatigue, loose stools, pale tongue with white coating, and thin and weak pulse	Strengthening the spleen, invigorating qi, warming the middle, and harmonizing the stomach	Guipi Tang