Table 2.

Mechanism by which TCM regulates the composition and metabolism of intestinal flora.

Herbs/decoction	Source/component	Model	Microbial target	Microbial metabolite	Related mechanism	Ref.
Water-insoluble polysaccharide	Poria cocos	ob/ob mice	↑ Lachnospiraceae, Clostridium, Bacteroidetes, Alloprevotella, Parabacteroides, Clostridium IV, Ruminococcus, Bacteroides; ↓Megamonas, Proteus	↑SCFAs, butyrate	Regulate lipid and glucose metabolism	Sun et al. [72]
Qushi huayu decoction	Artemisiae scopariae herba, Polygoni cuspidati rhizome et radix, Curcumae longae rhizome	High-fat diet	↑Clostridium XIV a, Clostridium IV Odoribacter; ↓Rikenella, Tyzzerella, Intestinibacter, Romboutsia, Lachnospiraceae	↓LPS	Inhibit LPS gut-leakage, downregulate intestinal MAPK pathway	Leng et al. [73]
Polyphenol-rich loquat fruit extract	Loquat fruit	High-fructose diet	↑Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria; ↓Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio	None	Reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, decrease lipid metabolism disorders	Li et al. [76]
Artesunate	Artemisia annua	CCl4-induced liver cirrhosis	↑Lactobacillus, Eubacterium	None	Reduce injury to intestinal mucosa, decrease translocated bacteria	Chen et al. [77]
Shenling Baizhu powder	Ginseng radix et rhizoma, Poria, Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma, Dioscoreae rhizoma, Lablab semen album, Nelumbinis semen, Glycyrrhizae radix et rhizoma praeparata cum melle, Coicis semen, Platycodonis radix, Amomi fructus	HFD-induced NAFLD	↑Bifidobacteria, Anaerobe	↑SCFAs, ↓LPS	Inhibit TLR4/MYD88 pathway	Zhang et al. [78]
Sanwei ganjiang powder	Zingiberis rhizoma, Alpinia katsumadai, Myristica fragrans houtt	CCl4-induced chronic liver failure	↑Firmicutes, Lactobacillus; ↓Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Coprococcus, Ruminococcus, Sutterella	↑CYP7A1, NTCP, Mrp2, BESP	Regulate bile acid metabolism, increased the expression of Nrf2, decrease inflammatory response	Li et al. [79]
Rhubarb extract	Rheum palmatum	Mouse model of binge drinking	↑Parabacteroides goldsteinii; ↓Lachnospiraceae, Prevotellaceae, Akkermansia,	↓LPS	Improve gut barrier function, relieve oxidative stress and inflammation, inhibit TLR4 and NADPH oxidase	Neyrinck et al. [80]
Sijunzi decoction	Panax ginseng, Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz, the sclerotium of the fungus, Poria cocos, Glycyrrhiza uralensis fisch	In vitro	↑Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Sutterella; ↓Paraprevotella, Bacteroides, Streptococcus, Clostridium, Ruminococcus, Butyricimonas,	↑acetic acid, total acid ↓propionic acid, butyric acid	Immunomodulatory function	Gao et al. [81]
Resistant starch	Purple yam	High-fat diet	↑Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Coprococcus, Allobaculum; ↓Parabacteroides, Dorea	None	Ameliorate lipid metabolism	Li et al. [82]
Ethanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum (GL95)	G. lucidum	High-fat diet	↑Alistipes, Peptococcaceae, Defluviitalea and Alloprevotella; ↓Phascolarctobacterium, Clostridium XVIII	↑Bile acid, SCFAs, HMGCR, CYP7A1, PPARα, ApoB; ↓FAS, ACAT2, SREBP-1C, HMGCR	Improve lipid metabolism	Guo et al. [83]
Ursolic acid	Natural pentacyclic triterpenoid compound derived from Chinese medicine plants	CCl4-induced liver fibrosis	↑Firmicutes, Bacteroidales, and Lachnospiraceae ↓Verrucomicrobia	None	Inhibit the NOX4/ROS and RhoA/ROCK1 signalling pathways, reverses liver damage and fibrosis	Wan et al. [84]

SCFAs: short-chain fatty acids; NAFLD: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; HFD: high-fat diet; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; MAPK: mitogen-activated protein kinase.