Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the short-term efficacy of Heye Tiaozhi Shugan, a kind of herbal medicine, decoction in dealing with patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases(NAFLD). Methods 56 patients with NAFLD were recruited in our hospital between April 2019 and April 2021, and were randomly divided into control and observation group, with 28 patients in each group. All patients were supervised for health education, like exercise and diet guidance. The patients in the control group were treated with polyene phosphatidylcholine and glycyrrhizinic acid tables, and those in the observation group were treated with the herbal medicine at base of medication in the control. The regimen lasted for 12 weeks. The TCM syndrome scores were evaluated, and serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were assayed. Results At the end of three month treatment, the hypochondriac pain, depression, poor appetite, abdominal distension and loose stool scores as obtained by TCM evaluation were (1.0±0.3), (0.8±0.2), (0.7±0.2), (0.7±0.2) and (1.0±0.1), significantly lower than [(1.4±0.7), (1.3±0.3), (1.3±0.3), (1.2±0.3) and (1.4±0.3), P < 0.05] in the control; serum TG and LDL-C levels in the observation group were(1.8±0.5)mmol/L and(2.7±0.6)mmol/L, significantly lower than [(2.4±0.8)mmol/L and (3.9±0.8)mmol/L, respectively, P＜0.05], while serum HDL-C level was (1.8±0.6)mmol/L, significantly higher than [(1.1±0.4)mmol/L, P＜0.05] in the control; serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma glutamine transferase and alkaline phosphatase levels in the observation group were(46.1±8.9)U/L, (31.9±9.0)U/L,(38.7±11.2)U/L and (66.1±12.2)U/L, all significantly lower than [(55.7±9.4)U/L,(44.3±10.7)U/L,(49.7±12.5)U/L and (74.4±14.7)U/L, respectively, P＜0.05]. Conclusion The Heye Tiaozhi Shugan decoction, a herbal medicine compound, in treatment of NAFLD patients with special TCM syndrome, could improve blood lipid metabolism, and needs further investigation.

Key words: Nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases, Herbal medicine containing lotus leaf, Polyene phosphatidylcholine, Blood lipids, Therapy