Discussion on Relationship Between Intestinal Flora and Chronic Obstructive Pulmo⁃ nary Disease Based on the Interior-Exterior Relationship Between the Lung and Large Intestine
Abstract:There is a point of the "interior-exterior relationship between the lung and large intestine" in Chinese medicine. It means that the lung and large intestine interacts with each other in physiology and pathology, and the treatment for pulmonary disease and that for large intestinal disease are applied to each other. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common and refractory disease in clinical practice. Modern researches show that patients with COPD are frequently complicated with gastrointestinal diseases. In the evolution process of occurrence of COPD,smoking and the use of antibiotics can lead to imbalance of intestinal flora directly or indirectly. Injury of immune response,endotoxin release and bacterial translocation induced by imbalance of intestinal dysbiosis also can lead to occurrence and development of COPD. There are basic means of regulating alteration of intestinal flora such as intestinal flora-regulating preparation,the reasonable use of antibiotics,reasonable diet,as well as exercise and fecal microbiota transplantation. COPD belongs to the category of lung distension in Chinese medicine. Based on the theory "interior-exterior relationship between the lung and large intestine" in clinical practice, lung- large intestine simultaneous treatment method is applied to treat COPD, and patients' clinical symptoms are probably improved via regulation of intestinal flora. Utilizing respective advantage of Chinese and western medicine and research methods of modern medicine to explore prevention and control of COPD via regulation of intestinal dysbiosis,will probably become one of research directions of prevention and control of COPD in the future.