ObjectiveTo observe the clinical effectiveness and safety of Hewei Anshen Formula （和胃安神方） for stress-induced insomnia. MethodsA total of 104 male patients with stress-induced insomnia were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group， with 52 cases in each group. The treatment group was given Hewei Anshen Formula once a day， while the control group was given zolpidem tartrate tablets 10 mg per time and once a day， and both groups were treated for 4 weeks. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index （PSQI） was applied to evaluate sleep quality before and after treatment， Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test （FIRST） was used to evaluate insomnia susceptibility， MOS 36-tem Short Form Health Survey （SF-36） ［which includes the domains of Physical Component Summary （PCS） and Mental Health Component Summary （MCS）， with the PCS including the General Health （GH）， Physical Functioning （PF）， Role Physical （RP）， and Body Pain （BP）， and the MCS including Role Emotional （RE）， Social Functioning （SF）， Vitality （VT）， Mental Health （MH）］ was used to evaluate the quality of life， and Fatigue Scale 14 （FS-14） ［including somatic fatigue and brain fatigue scores］ to evaluate the degree of fatigue， and the traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome scores using a self-developed TCM syndrome survey for insomnia. Clinical effectiveness and TCM syndrome improvement were determined after treatment. The occurrence of adverse events and adverse reactions was recorded during treatment. ResultsThe total effective rate of clinical effectiveness was 90.38% （41/52） in the treatment group and 80.77% （42/52） in the control group， and the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant （P＞0.05）. The total effective rate of TCM syndrome effectiveness in the treatment group was 80.77% （42/52）， which was higher than 44.23% （23/52） in the control group， and the difference was statistically significant （P＜0.01）. The TCM syndrome score， FIRST score， brain fatigue scores， brain fatigue score and total score of FS-14 score all reduced after treatment in both groups， and all scores were lower in the treatment group than those in the control group after treatment （P＜0.05）. All transformed scores of SF-36 scores were higher in both groups after treatment than before treatment in this group， and they were better than the control group in the four dimensions of PF， RP， VT， and MH （P＜0.05）. There were no adverse events and adverse reactions in the two groups. ConclusionHewei Anshen Formula can improve patients' sleep quality， effectively relieve clinical symptoms such as fatigue and pain， alleviate TCM syndromes， enhance the quality of life， reduce the susceptibility to insomnia， and shows good safety.

ObjectiveTo investigate the possible mechanism of Hewei Anshen Formula （和胃安神方） in the treatment of insomnia. MethodsSixty male SD rats were randomly divided into the normal group， the model group， the eszopiclone group and the low-， medium- and high-dose Hewei Anshen Formula groups. The insomnia model was constructed by intraperitoneal injection of p-chlorophenylalanine （PCPA） for 2 days in all groups except the normal group. After successful modelling， the eszopiclone group was given 0.33 mg/（kg·d） eszopiclone aqueous solution by gavage， the low-， medium- and high-dose Hewei Anshen Formula groups were given 10 ml/kg of Hewei Anshen Formula with a concentration of 1， 2 and 4 g/ml， respectively， and the rats in the normal group and the model group were given 10 ml/kg of saline by gavage， once a day for 7 consecutive days. The general condition of the rats was observed during the experiment， and the body mass of the rats was measured every day after medication administration. The following day after the last medication administration， pentobarbital sodium co-test was used to observe the sleep condition， and the sleep latency and sleep duration were recorded； immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to detect the expression of hypothalamic clock rhythm regulating protein （CLOCK） and brain and muscle aromatic hydrocarbon receptor nuclear transporter-like protein 1 （BMAL1） in the rats. ResultsThe body mass of rats in the model group was lower than that of rats in the normal group at all time points （P＜0.01）； compared with the same time in the eszopiclone group， the body mass of rats in the low-dose Hewei Anshen Formula group was elevated on the 5th， 6th and 7th days of medication administration （P＜0.05）. Compared with the normal group， the sleep duration of rats in the model group was shortened （P＜0.01）； compared with the model group， the sleep duration of rats in each dosage group increased （P＜0.01）， and the difference between the high-dose Hewei Anshen Formula group and the eszopiclone group showed no statistically significant （P＞0.05）， while the sleep duration of the low- and medium-dose Hewei Anshen Formula groups were shorterned than the eszopiclone group （P＜0.01）. The difference in sleep latency showed no statistically significant among each group （P＞0.05）. The results of both immunohistochemistry and Western blotting showed that the expression of CLOCK and BMAL1 in the hypothalamus of rats in the model group was significantly reduced compared with that in the normal group （P＜0.01）； the expression of CLOCK and BMAL1 in the hypothalamus of rats in the low- and high-dose Hewei Anshen Formula groups increased than that in the model group （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. ConclusionHewei Anshen Formula can improve insomnia in model rats， and its mechanism of action may be related to the up-regulation of the expression of the hypothalamic biological clock genes CLOCK and BMAL1 protein.