title: [Study on effect of spleen invigorating, qi benefiting and dampness removing Chinese drugs and Western medicine on serum epidermal growth factor in chronic atrophic gastritis patients].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of various combinations of Spleen invigorating and Dampness removing recipes and western medicine on level of serum epidermal growth factor (sEGF) in patients of chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG).
  
  
  METHODS
  By means of Syndrome Differentiation three groups were divided as (1) Spleen invigorating I group (SI-I); (2) Spleen invigorating II group (SI-II); (3) Dampness removing group (DR); (4) western medicine group (WM); (5) healthy volunteers served as normal control group. The changes of symptoms and sEGF level were determined and compared between groups as well as before and after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sEGF in various groups of CAG were higher than that in the normal control (P < 0.01). In patients of SI-I and II groups, symptoms and pathological manifestations were improved significantly (P < 0.01), and sEGF dropped markedly after treatment (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05). The level of sEGF in DR raised after treatment (P < 0.05), but the level of sEGF in WM group lowered insignificantly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Inflammation of gastric mucosa could cause responsive elevation of sEGF in CAG patients. After treated with Spleen invigorating and Dampness removing Chinese drugs, the symptoms of CAG improved, simultaneously with the restoration of sEGF. sEGF could be taken as a sensitive index of the prognosis of CAG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University Medical School, Hangzhou 310016.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Si
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005757:Gastritis, Atrophic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor