Yihuo Huatan Formula alleviate stable COPD symptoms by increasing the relative abundance of Faecalibacterium Prausnitzii

Stable COPD is commonly treated in China with Yihuo Huatan Formula (YHF), an herbal decoction designed to address blood stasis and qi deficit. However, the exact therapeutic mechanism by which YHF mitigates COPD remains unclear. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing in this work to investigate the potential therapeutic benefit of YHF in patients with stable COPD. To investigate the potential therapeutic benefit of YHF for stable COPD, we carried out a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical experiment. A total of 96 individuals with stable COPD were randomized to the placebo group (Control; n = 48) or the therapy group (YHF; n = 48). Following two months of YHF treatment, there was a statistically significant difference in the total effective rate of TCM syndrome therapy between the treatment group (70.7%) and the control group (37.2%). Following therapy, the CAT, SGRQ, and CCQ scores for stable COPD in YHF group considerably dropped when compared to the Control group. When we first used various indices to quantify gut microbial alpha diversity, we found that patients in the YHF group had a microbiome with greater alpha diversity than those in the control group. Firmicutes were considerably more relative abundant in the YHF group than in the control group at the phylum level. The YHF group exhibited a significantly greater relative abundance of Faecalibacterium Prausnitzii at the species level compared to the control group. These findings suggested that YHF, which functions by controlling gut microbiota, may be a viable therapeutic option for stable COPD. Specifically, our research supports the use of YHF therapy for individuals with stable COPD.