ObjectiveTo analyze medication regularity of presciptions containing Cangzhu （Atractylodes Lancea） - Huangbai （Phellodendron Amurense） based on data mining. MethodsAll the prescriptions containing Cangzhu-Huangbai in Dictionary of Chinese Medical Formulas （《中医方剂大辞典》） and the fifth edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia （《中华医典》） were retrieved， setting up a database， counting the number of prescriptions involved， the composition of formulas in the prescriptions， the properties of the medicinal， the number of types of diseases and syndromes treated by the prescriptions， and the frequency of their appearances； drawing a network diagram of the medicinal combinations； analysing the medicinal combinations based on the association rules of the Apriori algorithm， and at the same time， analysing the association rules for the medicinal involved in the high-frequency diseases， and the core prescriptions containing Cangzhu-Huangbai pairs for specific diseases were extracted， and the medicinal in the core prescriptions were classified into four categories of raising yang and eliminating dampness， fortifying spleen and eliminating dampness， clearing dampness-heat， and specialised disease-use. ResultsA total of 323 prescriptions were identified， involving 318 Chinese herbal medicines， 52 syndromes， 200 diseases， among which arthralgia， beriberi， atrophy-flaccidity， leukorrhea， hernia-type diseases， headache， and haemorrhoids appeared more than 10 times. Through analyzing the core prescriptions for high-frequency diseases， we had four findings. Firstly， medicinal of spleen-fortifying and dampness-removing were the most frequent used in core prescriptions of Cangzhu-Huangbai pair （353 times）， and the medication mode was combination of qi-blood supplement medicinal and qi rectifying medicinal， usually using Huangqi （Astragalus mongholicus）， Renshen （Panax ginseng）， Processed Gancao （Glycyrrhiza glabra）， Baizhu （Atractylodes macrocephala）， Danggui （Levisticum officinale）， Chenpi （Citrus reticulata）， Xiangfu （Cyperus rotundus）. Then followed by the combination of heat-clearing and dampness-draining medicinal （213 times）， usually using Fangji （Stephania tetrandra）， Niuxi （Achyranthes bidentata）， and Banxia （Pinellia ternata）， and this type of heat-clearing and dampness-draining medicinal is most frequently used for haemorrhoids， and beriberi is the most frequent disease. The combination of yang-raising and dampness-removing medicinal （212 times）， often using Qianghuo （Hansenia weberbaueriana）， Chaihu （Elephantopus scaber）， Fangfeng （Carum carvi）， and this type of medicinal is most frequently used for headache， and atrophy-flaccidity is the most frequent disease. The combination of medicinal for specialised diseases was used the least frequently （39 times）. ConclusionCangzhu-Huangbai pair were often combined with medicinal of yang-raising and dampness-removing， spleen-fortifying and dampness-removing， and heat-clearing and dampness-draining to expel dampness pathogen， at the same time combined with disease-specific medicinal to treat disease and syndrome together.

ObjectiveTo explore the pathological mechanism-syndrome-treatment patterns of approved Chinese patent medicines （CPMs） that treat collateral disorders， providing a reference for the principle of "treating different diseases with the same therapy" in collateral pathology. MethodsCPMs that apply treatment strategies based on collateral disorders were identified from the Pharmacodia database by extracting information from the "efficacy" or "indications" sections of drug package inserts. A database was established to extract the names and compositions of the CPMs， as well as their indications， related traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） symptoms， disease locations （affected areas）， and pathological factors. Frequency statistics were performed. Using the Apriori algorithm， an association rule analysis was conducted on CPMs and disease-location combinations related to the top three most frequent pathological factor combinations. Core formulas for these combinations were identified and analyzed through drug network analysis and MCODE module clustering. ResultsA total of 660 CPMs targeting collateral disorders were retrieved， involving 299 indications， 323 TCM symptoms， 21 disease locations， 19 pathological factors， and 124 pathological factor combinations. The most frequent pathological factor combinations were blood stasis （involved in 109 CPMs， 16.52%）， exogenous wind （外风） -cold-dampness （involved in 43 CPMs， 6.52%）， and qi deficiency-blood stasis （involved in 42 CPMs， 6.36%）. Analysis of the core formulas for these combinations revealed common ingredients such as Honghua （Carthami Flos）， Chuanxiong （Chuanxiong Rhizoma）， Danggui （Angelicae Sinensis Radix）， and Dilong （Pheretima）. ConclusionCollateral disorders involve a wide range of pathogenesis and represent a fundamental mechanism in the onset and development of various diseases， characterized by obstruction and stagnation. The primary therapeutic principle is unblocking of the collaterals. Blood stasis obstructing the collaterals is the core pathological basis， and the strategy of activating blood circulation and resolving stasis to unblock the collaterals should be central to the treatment. The core medication pattern involves combining blood-activating and stasis-resolving herbs with insect-derived medicinals that unblock collaterals. Exogenous wind is often the initiating patholo-gical factor in colla-teral disorders， and the appropriate addition of wind-dispelling herbs can enrich the treatment strategies for such conditions.