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DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1608050
Complex data in herbal medcinal product research: Multi-step clustering of preclinical data for a herbal combination, STW 5
Publication History
Publication Date:
24 October 2017 (online)
A multitude of causes and likewise also targets for therapeutic interventions have been identified in functional gastrointestinal diseases (FGDs) [1]. Therefore, a multi-target approach is a promising therapeutic strategy, as is exemplified by the herbal combination medicinal product STW 5 (Iberogast), which has been proven to be effective in a large number of randomized controlled clinical studies, while likewise exhibiting a highly favourable safety profile [2]. The fact, that STW 5 consists of nine plant extracts, makes the combination an ideal candidate for the use of the newly described method of step-wise cluster analysis, a standardized procedure to transfer heterogeneous pharmacological data, from different models, into effect size categories.
This method is based on a step-wise cluster formation starting from the level of single tests up to the level of different pathomechanisms involved in the development of a certain disease, in this case functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The result is based on an overview on the pharmacological data on STW 5 and its single components, analysed using step-wise cluster formation. The different modes of action address multiple etiologic factors involved in functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome, like hyper- and hypomotility, acidity, inflammation and hypersensitivity, and also inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases. The results on STW 5 and the contribution of the single constituents to the overall multi-target action of this herbal combination preparation are evaluated and visualized by 2D histograms.
Thus, by making the allocation of specific actions to the different components of STW 5 manageable, the results also give support to the clinical use of the combination in patients with different symptom clusters.
[1] Allescher et al. 2006, Phytomedicine 13 SV: 2 – 11;
[2] Storr et al. 2016, Pharmakon 4: 356 – 364