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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2026

Network pharmacology insights into the mechanistic basis of Taohe Chengqi Decoction in the treatment of constipation.

Constipation is a common gastrointestinal disorder associated with impaired motility, inflammation, and altered neuro-intestinal regulation. Taohe Chengqi Decoction, a classical prescription from Shang Han Lun, has been widely applied in the treatment of constipation, yet its pharmacological mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. We integrated systems pharmacology and network analysis to elucidate the therapeutic mechanisms of Taohe Chengqi Decoction against constipation. Active compounds and their putative targets were retrieved from traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology and PubChem, while constipation-related genes were collected from GeneCards and OMIM. Shared targets were identified and subsequently analyzed using STRING to construct a protein-protein interaction network. Hub proteins were ranked by degree centrality. A drug-disease-target network was built to map the interactions between Taohe Chengqi Decoction and constipation. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analyses were performed to uncover functional modules and signaling pathways. A total of 188 common targets were identified. Protein-protein interaction network analysis highlighted AKT1, interleukin-6 (IL6), IL1B, and JUN as hub proteins, suggesting central roles in regulating inflammation, apoptosis, and signal transduction. Additional nodes with high connectivity, such as caspase-3, PTGS2, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, estrogen receptor 1, and epidermal growth factor receptor, were implicated in apoptosis, oxidative stress, and transcriptional regulation. The drug-disease-target network revealed a dense and highly interconnected structure, reflecting the multicomponent, multi-target nature of Taohe Chengqi Decoction. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment indicated significant involvement of the advanced glycation end-product binding to their receptor signaling pathway, along with IL-17, TNF, and HIF-1 pathways, underscoring the contribution of inflammatory and oxidative stress-related processes. This study, based on computational pharmacology analysis, predicts that Taohe Chengqi Decoction may exert therapeutic effects on constipation through an integrated regulation involving multiple components, targets, and pathways. The potential mechanisms are likely associated with the modulation of inflammatory responses, apoptosis, and oxidative stress, with the advanced glycation end-product binding to their receptor signaling pathway possibly acting as a key mediator. These findings provide theoretical insights and future directions for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of Taohe Chengqi Decoction against constipation.

Drugs, Chinese Herbal↗
PubMed2026

Constipation and Psychiatric Disorders: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study.

BACKGROUND: Observational studies have shown a link between constipation (CN) and psychiatric disorders, including Schizophrenia (SP), Bipolar disorder (BD), Schizoaffective disorder (SD), and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, it is still unknown whether CN affects the occurrence and development of psychiatric disorders or whether psychiatric disorders cause the occurrence and development of CN. Therefore, this study used Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to evaluate the relationship between CN and psychiatric disorders. METHOD: We used genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to assess the relationship between constipation (N = 411, 623) and four psychiatric disorders, including SP ( N = 77, 096), BD (N = 51, 710), SD ( N = 210, 962), PD (N = 482, 730 ), using bidirectional MR analysis. Inverse variance weighting (IVW), MR Egger (ME) and Weighted median (WM) were used as causal analysis methods. Cochran's Q test, funnel plot, MR Egger intercept test and Leave.one.out analysis were used to detect sensitivity. Confounding factors were analyzed and eliminated by LDtrait to avoid influencing the final MR Analysis result. RESULTS: The results of positive MR analysis indicated that there was no evidence of influence of constipation on SP (OR 1.043, 95%CI 0.946 - 1.149, P value = 0.398), BD (OR 1.114, 95%CI 0.995 - 1.248, P value = 0.062), SD (OR 0.934, 95%CI 0.674 - 1.294, P value = 0.682) and PD (OR 1.118, 95%CI 0.918 - 1.361, P value = 0.269) under gene prediction. Reverse MR analysis suggested that SP (OR 1.030, 95% CI 1.001-1.060, P value = 0.042) had a causal relationship with constipation. BD (OR 0.993, 95% CI 0.962-1.025, P value = 0.664), SD (OR 1.021, 95% CI 0.984-1.059, P value = 0.265) and PD (OR 1.004, 95% CI 0.974-1.035, P value = 0.790) were not associated with CN. CONCLUSION: There was a positive association between SP and CN. CN may have no exact causal relationship with BD, SD and PD, and the interaction mechanism between these diseases needs to be further explored.

Constipation↗
PubMed1979

Management of postoperative constipation in anorectal surgery.

Fifty patients who had undergone proctologic operations were given a combination of standardized senna concentrate and dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate for prevention or treatment of postoperative constipation. Two Senokot S tablets were given on the evening of the first postoperative day. Patients who had bowel movements after receiving this dose and remained in the hospital received two tablets on each of the following two days. Otherwise, dosage was increased gradually to a maximum of four tablets twice daily until defecation occurred or until the four-day treatment period was over. All patients achieved bowel movements, and in no case was it necessary to administer an enema. No hard stools were passed on the day patients were discharged from the hospital. Overall results were excellent or good in 94 per cent of cases; these results were not affected by age. Ninety-two per cent had bowel movements after the first or second dose was administered. On the day of discharge from the hospital, fecal consistency was satisfactory in 88 per cent of cases and loose in 12 per cent. Except for a single instance of diarrhea after administration of one dose, which involved a patient with a history of loose stools, no side effect occurred during the trial. In view of these responses and the virtual absence of side effects in this study group, Senokot S tablets are judged to be of demonstrated value in the postoperative management of patients undergoing proctologic operations.

Adult↗
PubMed2026

Functional constipation in pregnancy and its association with dietary intake and physical activity: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Functional constipation (FC) is a common complaint during pregnancy and has been reported to be associated with physical activity and dietary intake. However, previous studies have reported inconsistent findings. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of FC and examine its association with physical activity and dietary intake among pregnant women. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 381 healthy pregnant women attending urban health centres in Tabriz, Iran, between January 2024 and February 2025, were selected using a multistage cluster sampling method. FC was diagnosed according to the Rome IV criteria. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Multivariable Generalised Estimating Equations (GEE) analysis was performed to identify factors associated with FC. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of FC throughout pregnancy was 37%. In the first trimester, 41 out of 73 women (56%) had FC, while in the second trimester 53 out of 146 women (36%), and in the third trimester 47 out of 162 women (29%) were affected. Multivariate GEE indicated that both higher dietary fibre intake (aOR= 0.88, 95%CI 0.86-0.91, p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.001) and higher fluid intake (aOR= 0.59, 95%CI 0.52-0.67, p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.001) were associated with a reduced risk of FC. A normal BMI was associated with a lower risk of FC (aOR= 0.35, 95% CI 0.16-0.77, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.009), whereas, secondary education was associated with a higher risk (aOR= 2.81, 95%CI 1.33-5.95, p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.007). Physical activity (aOR= 1.00; 95%CI 1.00 to 1.01; p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.168), and other demographic characteristics (p&#x2009;>&#x2009;0.05) were not independently associated with FC after adjustment. CONCLUSION: FC is highly prevalent during pregnancy and may adversely affect women's quality of life. Higher dietary fibre and fluid intake were associated with lower odds of FC, highlighting the importance of healthy lifestyle behaviours during pregnancy. Prospective longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

Humans↗
PubMed1978

Treatment of constipation in geriatric and chronically ill patients: a comparison.

The difficulties of adequately managing constipation, particulary in patients with impaired or limited mobility as a result of surgery, cardiovascular or cerebral disease, or advanced age, led us to evaluate the use of stool softeners in a homogeneous group of institutionalized patients. Comparison was made between dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DSS) (Colace), q.d. and b.i.d., and dioctyl calcium sulfosuccinate (DCS) (Surfak), q.d. Analysis of results showed 81% of the patients receiving DCS improved, a significant result (P is less than .02) when assessed by the sign test. By contrast, DSS caused no significant improvement over placebo, regardless of whether it was administered once or twice a day. The mean number of natural bowel movements among the DCS group increased approximately 62% over the placebo period, more than twice the 30% increase seen with DSS administered either b.i.d. or q.d. No adverse reactions were reported in any of the groups, and no significant study-induced changes occurred in laboratory measurements.

Aged↗
PubMed2026

A Computational Workflow for Prioritizing Microbial Metabolite-Associated Host Genes in Constipation-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

No standardized computational pipeline exists for systematically prioritizing microbial metabolite-associated host genes and protein-ligand complexes from publicly available chemical, genomic, and structural databases. This article describes an eight-stage workflow that accepts a user-defined set of gut microbiota-derived metabolites and produces a ranked shortlist of candidate metabolite-associated host genes, enriched biological pathways, and structurally prioritized protein-ligand complexes for experimental follow-up. The pipeline integrates (i) chemoinformatic metabolite profiling; (ii) multi-database candidate target prediction using protein-chemical interaction and ligand-based target-prediction tool and a molecular docking program; (iii) differential gene expression analysis of publicly available transcriptomic data; (iv) target-differentially expressed gene overlap; (v) protein-protein interaction network construction and pathway enrichment; (vi) molecular docking with a molecular docking program; (vii) 200 ns molecular dynamics simulation using a molecular dynamics engine with a protein force field used for molecular dynamics simulations; and (viii) MM-PBSA binding free-energy estimation. As a worked example, nine gut microbiota-derived or microbiota-modified metabolites representing short-chain fatty acids, bile acids, tryptophan-derived metabolites, and urolithin A were processed using the public IBS-C rectal mucosal transcriptomic dataset GSE36701. The workflow ranked 17 unique predicted metabolite-associated genes that were differentially expressed in this dataset. Docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and MM-PBSA analyses structurally prioritized five metabolite-protein complexes: lithocholic acid-VDR, lithocholic acid-NR1H4/FXR, ursodeoxycholic acid-NR1H4/FXR, tryptamine-HTR2A (simulated in an explicit 1-Palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) lipid bilayer), and urolithin A-CASP3. The protocol is designed to be adaptable to other metabolite sets, disease transcriptomic datasets, and target classes; all outputs are hypothesis-generating computational predictions that require independent transcriptomic replication, protein-level validation, and functional ligand-response assays before causal or therapeutic conclusions can be drawn.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome↗
PubMed2026

Dolichocolon May Differentially Associate with Ulcerative Colitis Phenotype in Children.

BACKGROUND: Dolichocolon (DC) is an underrecognized anatomic variant associated with constipation; its association with ulcerative colitis (UC) is unknown. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed abdominal MRI and CT scans in children with UC, Crohn's disease (CD), and non-inflammatory bowel disease (non-IBD) controls, classifying DC subtypes. RESULTS: A total of 111 cases (66 with UC) were examined. DC was similarly common (p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.4436) in patients with constipated (69%) or non-constipated (NC-UC: 57%) UC. In non-constipated (NC) patients, DC prevalence was higher in children with UC than those with CD or controls. Type 1 DC predominated in NC children with proctitis/left-sided UC (E1/E2), while Type 2 DC was enriched in children with extensive/pancolitis (E3/E4). DISCUSSION: DC may be associated with different phenotypes of UC and may influence disease distribution independent of constipation. However, given the cross-sectional design of this study, these associations should be interpreted cautiously and require confirmation in longitudinal studies.

Humans↗
PubMed1978

Review of laxative utilization in a skilled nursing facility.

Laxatives are the most frequently prescribed drugs in long-term care facilities. Of all nursing home patients, 58 percent receive laxatives--often more than one, and usually on a "prn" basis. This pattern of dosage is probably used in an effort to prevent constipation. Selection of a laxative should be based on careful evaluation of the cause of constipation, with due consideration being given to differences in drug effectiveness and the incidence of side effects. A review of laxative utilization among 73 elderly patients in a large metropolitan skilled nursing facility showed a rational use of these drugs. However, more attention should have been paid to the dietary management of constipation.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Successful use of a bulk laxative to control the diarrhea of tube feeding.

The greatly increased nutritional demands of the severely burned patient frequently require the use of tube feeding for enternal hyperalimentation. At a time when general patient morale is low and motivation needs to be maximally maintained, there is nothing so dispiriting as the distress of a painful perianal region and uncontrollable liquid stools. Attempts to control the diarrhea which frequently accompanies tube feeding by changing the formula or the method of administration or a wide variety of constipating drugs have all met with very limited success. Based on the clinical observation of a noted gastroenterologist (Bockus), we have administered a mucilagenous hydrophilic colloid bulk laxative (Metamucil) to patients on tube feeding formulae. The dosage and frequency are adjusted to individual patient needs, but average 7 g per liter of liquid formula. The results have been dramatic; namely, the virtual elimination of the diarrhea problem in our burn patients on enteral hyperalimentation by gastric tube feeding. Colonic transit time increases. The stools become formed but soft, cohesive but not adhesive. Perianal irritation does not occur. Neither does soilage of wound, dressings, or bed. No rebound constipation or obstructive symptoms have been encountered. We attribute this response to the same water binding mechanism that allows these colloids to prevent chronic constipation. Our patients may be given as much as 5,000 to 6,000 calories of tube feeding per day. Our patients are not distressed by diarrhea. Our nursing staff is relieved of the burden that entails.

Burns↗