Objective  To statistically analyze the distribution of syndrome types of early diabetes nephropathy based on literature reports, and explore the medication rules of qi- yin deficiency syndrome of early diabetes nephropathy based on data mining.

Methods  Relevant literature published in CNKI, WanFang Data, and VIP databases were retrieved, and the syndromes and herbal compositions related to early diabetic nephropathy were extracted. Microsoft Office Excel 2017 software was used to statistically analyze the distribution of syndrome types, and various data mining methods were used to explore the medication rules of qi-yin deficiency syndrome.

Results  A total of 442 articles were included, involving 459 prescriptions, mainly in the form of decoctions, granules and capsules. There were 329 prescriptions that clearly defined the clinical syndrome type of early diabetic nephropathy, with qi-yin deficiency type being the main type. 214 prescriptions for qi-yin deficiency syndrome involved 134 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine, represented by Astragali Radix, Poria, Corni Fructus, Dioscoreae Rhizoma, Rehmanniae Radix, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix Et Rhizoma. These therapeutic traditional Chinese herbs were mainly of the categories of tonifying deficiency, clearing heat, and promoting blood circulation and detoxification; and their medicinal properties were mostly cold and mild; the medicinal flavors were mainly sweet and bitter, and often entered the kidney meridian, liver meridian, and spleen meridian. According to Zipf's law, there were 16 high-frequency traditional Chinese herbs with 31 associated combinations among them; 6 common factors with values greater than 1 were extracted among high-frequency traditional Chinese medicine by means of factor analysis.

Conclusion  This study explored and summarized the distribution of syndrome types of early diabetes nephropathy and the medication rules of qi-yin deficiency type based on data mining, which can provide corresponding references for clinical prescription and medication.

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