Objective To visually analyze the Chinese and English literature in the research field of Cistanches Herba through bibliometrics;To understand the research status and hotspots of Cistanches Herba;To provide reference for the related research.Methods Literature related to Cistanches Herba in CNKI and Web of Science core databases from January 1,2002 to December 31,2022 was retrieved.VOSviewer 1.6.18 was used for co-occurrence clustering and temporal overlay analysis of authors and keywords,while CiteSpace 6.1.R2 was used for keyword burst analysis.Results Totally 1 631 articles were included,including 1 481 Chinese articles and 150 English articles,and the overall number of publications was on the rise.This field has formed research teams represented by Guo Yuhai from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University,Tu Pengfei from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,and Chen Jun and Xu Rong from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.High frequency keywords included Cistanches Herba,echinoside,phenylethanolside,high performance liquid chromatography,cistanche polysaccharide,artificial cultivation,anti-fatigue,etc.Conclusion The research in this field mainly focuses on TCM therapy,clinical study,etiology and pathogenesis.Network pharmacology,molecular biology,data mining and so on may become the focus of future research of Cistanches Herba.

ObjectiveTo explore the therapeutic effect and mechanism of Yiqi Huoxue Tongbian prescription on slow transit constipation （STC） in rats. MethodThe rat model of STC was established by gavage of loperamide hydrochloride. Rats were assigned into control， model， mosapride， low-， medium-， and high-dose （3.51， 7.02， and 14.04 g·kg^-1， respectively） Yiqi Huoxue Tongbian prescription groups. The changes of general signs， fecal moisture content， and intestinal propulsion rate were measured after model establishment and drug administration. The colonic mucosal changes were observed by hematoxylin eosin staining. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed to determine the content of substance P （SP） and vasoactive intestinal peptide （VIP） in the colon of rats in each group. The gray values of aquaporin （AQP） 3， AQP4， AQP8， and c-Kit in rat colon tissue were measured by immunohistochemistry and Western blot， and the changes of intestinal flora were detected by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. ResultCompared with the model group， 10 days of treatment with Yiqi Huoxue Tongbian prescription increased the fecal moisture content and intestinal propulsion rate （P<0.01）. The medium- and high-dose Yiqi Huoxue Tongbian prescription groups and the mosapride group showed no obvious mucosal inflammation and neat arrangement of goblet cells with a large number in the colon tissue. Moreover， the three groups showed increased SP content （P<0.01） and decreased VIP content （P<0.01） in the serum. The medium- and high-dose Yiqi Huoxue Tongbian prescription groups showed down-regulated protein levels of AQP3， AQP4， and AQP8 （P<0.01） and up-regulated protein level of c-Kit （P<0.01）. The drug administration groups presented slightly increased observed species， Chao1， ACE， and Shannon， Simpson， and PD whole tree. The principal component analysis showed that the control group had a short distance with the high- and medium-dose Yiqi Huoxue Tongbian prescription groups， indicating that high- and medium-dose Yiqi Huoxue Tongbian prescription can recover the intestinal flora to that in the control group. ConclusionYiqi Huoxue Tongbian prescription can alleviate the defecation status of rats with slow transit constipation by down-regulating the expression of AQP3， AQP4， and AQP8 to reduce the absorption of water in the intestine， up-regulating the expression of c-Kit to increase the number and distribution of Cajal interstitial cells， and regulating the balance of flora in the colon tissue.