title: Basic research on inflammatory bowel disease in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Since the etiology and the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are still not well known, research on IBD often focuses on these topics. Investigative science papers about IBD in Chinese medical journals from 1989 to 2003 were viewed to understand the progress of basic IBD research in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  The basic science investigative papers about IBD from 1989 to 2003 in Chinese periodicals (VIP and CMCC) were reviewed and analyzed; the key words used were as follows: inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, basic science investigation, and literature review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 3454 articles about IBD published in Chinese medical journals from 1989 to 2003, and during these 15 years, 508 papers focused on basic scientific investigations. There were 463 papers investigating the pathogenesis of IBD, 287 papers on immunological mechanisms, and 176 papers about other mechanisms. There were 142 papers investigating the mechanisms of Chinese traditional medicine on IBD from 1989 to 2003, which included 117 papers related to animal experiments and 25 papers related to clinical studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There have been relatively few investigative scientific papers on IBD published in Chinese medical journals. However, the study of IBD has been emphasized in China. Research on the immunological mechanisms of IBD has been predominant. Furthermore, a large number of the research papers were about the mechanisms and effects of Chinese traditional medicine on IBD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Ai Ping
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: Ren Wei
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015706:Bibliometrics; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D016239:MEDLINE; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional