Abstract
BACKGROUND: The study aimed to demonstrate the impact of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) matrine combined with omeprazole enteric-coated tablets on gastric mucosal histopathology, gastric function, inflammatory cytokines, and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication in patients with chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG). METHODS: A retrospective collection of case data from 110 patients with CAG admitted to the TCM Department of the hospital was conducted. Patients were rolled into the test group (TG, matrine + omeprazole enteric-coated tablets) and the control group (CG, omeprazole enteric-coated tablets). The gastric mucosal histopathological scores, serological indicators (interleukin (IL)-2, IL-10, tumour necrosis factor (TNF-a), gastric function (motilin (MTL), gastrin (GAS), pepsinogen (PG)), H. pylori eradication rate, and clinical efficacy were compared. RESULTS: The degree of glandular atrophy, intestinal meta-plasia, dysplasia, and inflammatory activity index in patients of TG post-treatment were lower than CG (P<0.05). Post-treatment, IL-2, IL-10, and TNF-a levels in patients of TG were inferior to CG (P<0.05), and the H. pylori eradication rate in patients of TG (87.27%) was inferior to CG (63.64%) (P<0.05). The effective treatment rate in patients of TG post-treatment (92.73%) was higher than CG (78.18%) (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Matrine combined with omeprazole enteric-coated tablets significantly improved gastric mucosal histopathology, reduced inflammatory cytokine levels, enhanced gastric function, and increased the H. pylori eradication rate compared to omeprazole monotherapy.