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Narrative review examines TCM herbal extracts and formulas regarding cholestatic liver injury

Narrative review examines TCM herbal extracts and formulas regarding cholestatic liver injury
Photo by Nathan Rimoux / Unsplash
Key Takeaway
Note that this narrative review lacks reported safety data and quantitative outcomes for TCM and cholestatic liver injury.

This source is a narrative review focused on the potential link between Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal extracts and formulas and cholestatic liver injury. The publication does not report a specific study population, sample size, or setting for the underlying evidence. Consequently, no numerical data regarding primary or secondary outcomes are available within this text.

The authors do not report specific adverse events, serious adverse events, discontinuations, or tolerability profiles for the interventions discussed. Similarly, no follow-up duration is provided. The review does not present pooled effect sizes or confidence intervals, as it is not a meta-analysis of quantitative trials.

Limitations acknowledged by the authors are not explicitly detailed in the provided text, though the absence of reported data suggests significant gaps in the current evidence base. Funding sources and conflicts of interest are not reported. The certainty of any conclusions drawn is not explicitly stated, and the practice relevance is not defined.

Clinicians should interpret these findings with caution, recognizing that the narrative nature of the review and the lack of reported quantitative metrics limit the ability to make definitive recommendations regarding safety or efficacy.

Study Details

Study typeSystematic review
EvidenceLevel 1
PublishedApr 2026
View Original Abstract ↓
Cholestatic liver injury (CLI) is a complex pathology characterized by impaired bile excretion and a lack of effective curative therapies. Emerging evidence indicates that the gut microbiota plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of CLI via the gut-liver axis. Specifically, gut dysbiosis disrupts bile acid homeostasis, triggers immune-mediated inflammation, exacerbates oxidative stress, and dysregulates multiple signaling pathways, thereby accelerating hepatic damage. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers a distinct therapeutic advantage through its multi-component, multi-target mechanisms. Many studies have shown that TCM herbal extracts and some formulas can attenuate CLI by restructuring the gut microbiome. These interventions work by promoting beneficial bacterial proliferation, restoring intestinal barrier integrity, modulating bile acid receptors, and suppressing inflammation and fibrosis. This review synthesizes current mechanisms linking gut dysbiosis to CLI and evaluates recent advances in TCM-based strategies that target the gut microbiota, offering theoretical insights for novel clinical interventions.
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