Mutual information mining for component law and development of new recipes for ankylosing spondylitis

To analyze the component law of Chinese medicines for ankylosing spondylitis, and develop new prescriptions for ankylosing spondylitis through mutual information mining methods. Chinese medicine recipes for ankylosing spondylitis were collected and recorded in the database, and then the correlation coefficient between herbs, core combinations of herbs and new prescriptions were analyzed by using modified mutual Information, complex system entropy cluster and unsupervised hierarchical clustering, respectively. Based on the analysis of 61 Chinese medicine recipes for ankylosing spondylitis, 26 drugs with high-frequency and the distribution of Four Qi and Five Flavors of Chinese medicines occurrence in these recipes, 23 frequently-used herb pairs and 12 core combinations were founded, and 6 new recipes for ankylosing spondylitis were developed. Chinese medicines for ankylosing spondylitis were mainly consist of kidney yang-tonifying Medicinal, blood-activating and stasis-dispelling edicinal, wind-dampness dispelling and cold dispersing medicinal. The therapeutic principle for ankylosing spondylitis is to reinforce the healthy qi and eliminate the pathogenic factors. Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata, Radix Glycyrrhizae, Radix Paeoniae Rubra, Rhizoma Chuanxiong, Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Rhizoma Cibotii, Radix Dipsaci, Herba Taxilli, Corthex Eucommiae, Radix Angelicae Pubescentis and Radix Astragali are the main herbal drugs used in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis.