Analysis of the Medication Rules for Treating Xiongbi with Ancient Classic Prescriptions Based on Data Mining

Objective To provide theoretical basis and data support for the treatment of Xiongbi by analyzing the compatibility and application rules of treating Xiongbi in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) based on data mining. Methods Chinese herbal formulas for Xiongbi were searched in the "Chinese formula database" and collected. The usage frequency, efficacy category, and nature and flavour attribution of each medicine in the prescriptions were statistically analyzed. The association rules and clustering analysis were conducted for those Chinese medicines with a usage frequency above 10% by using the IBM SPSS Modeler 18.0 and SPSS Statistics 27 data-processing software. Results A total of 455 prescriptions for Xiongbi in TCM classics were obtained in this study, involving 324 flavors of Chinese medicines, 15 of them had a frequency of use above 10%. The top three medicine ranked according to the frequency were Rougui (170 times), Gancao (128 times), and Danggui (121 times).The efficacy of the drug is based on dispersing cold and relieving pain, tonifying fire to help Yang, and moistening the bowels to relieve constipation;In addition, our results indicated that the main medicine treating Xiongbi belongs to the mild on medicinal property, which were pungent taste and entering the spleen meridian. Association rule analysis showed that Rougui was the core medicine, and the compatibility of "Ganjiang, Rougui" was the core drug pair of medicines for the treatment of Xiongbi. Three potential new prescriptions were obtained from the cluster analysis, each reflecting a different therapeutic idea. Conclusion Rougui was the core medicine in the Xiongbi treatment, the core drug pair of medicines was "Ganjiang, Rougui". Accordingly, Tongyang Sanjie, Zaoshihuatan and Xinpitongzhi are the core ideas of Chinese medicine in treating Xiongbi.