Clinical Efficacy Evaluation of Chaizhi Hewei Decoction in the Treatment of Non-Erosive Reflux Disease With Liver-Stomach Disharmony Syndrome

April 6, 2026 updated by: Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences
This study focuses on patients with NERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and liver-gallbladder disharmony syndrome as its research subjects. It conducts a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Chai Zhi He Wei formula in terms of symptom improvement, quality of life, and adverse reactions. On one hand, this research aims to enhance the level of evidence-based medicine for TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment of NERD. On the other hand, it seeks to reduce the dosage of PPIs (proton pump inhibitors) or discontinue their use, addressing the side effects caused by PPI overuse, and serving as a leading example for TCM clinical research. Lastly, the study aims to optimize the efficacy of Tongjiang granules and address potential safety concerns, such as diarrhea.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
66

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • China
    • Beijing Municipality
      • Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China, 100091
        • Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Meet thediagnosis criteria for NERD;
  2. GERD Q scale score >8 points;
  3. Meet the criteria for the liver-stomach disharmony syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine;
  4. Age between 18-70 years old;
  5. Participants are informed and voluntarily sign the informed consent form. -

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with active gastric or duodenal ulcers, gastritis with active bleeding, severe dysplasia of the gastric mucosa, or suspected malignancy; patients with achalasia or post-achalasia surgery; and patients with functional heartburn.
  2. Patients with severe primary diseases of the cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, hematological, or respiratory systems, or malignant tumors.
  3. Patients with mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder) and those with intellectual or language impairments.
  4. Pregnant or breastfeeding women.
  5. Patients allergic to any components of this preparation.
  6. Patients currently taking medications that may affect the outcome of this study (e.g., proton pump inhibitors, potassium-competitive acid blockers, Tongjiang granules, etc.).
  7. Patients currently participating in or having participated in other drug clinical trials within the past 4 weeks.

  8. Patients with suspected or confirmed history of alcohol or substance abuse, anxiety, or depression; or, according to the investigator's judgment, other conditions that may reduce the likelihood of enrollment or complicate the enrollment process, such as frequent changes in work environment that may lead to loss of follow-up.

    -

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Placebo Comparator: Control Group
Placebo (a simulator of), 1 packet per dose, twice daily, to be taken 1 hour after breakfast and dinner, with a course duration of 4 weeks.
Drug: Placebo
Placebo, 1 packet per dose, twice daily, to be taken 1 hour after breakfast and dinner, with a course duration of 4 weeks.
Active Comparator: Experimental Group
Chaizhi Hewei Granules, 1 packet per dose, twice daily, take 1 hour after breakfast and dinner, course duration: 4 weeks.
Drug: Chaizhi Hewei Decoction
Chaizhi Hewei Decoction Granules, 1 packet per dose, twice daily, take 1 hour after breakfast and dinner, course duration: 4 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Questionnaire (GERD Q) Score
Time Frame: week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome improvement status
Time Frame: week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
SF-36 Scale Score
Time Frame: week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Scale Scoring
Time Frame: week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) score
Time Frame: week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Scale Title: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) Minimum Score: 0 Maximum Score:21 (for each subscale: Anxiety [A] and Depression [D]) Interpretation: Higher scores indicate worse outcomes (greater anxiety or depressive symptoms), with 0-7 = no symptoms, 8-10 = possible symptoms, 11-21 = definite symptoms.
week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hematuria Metabolomics
Time Frame: week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Outcome Measure Title:

Changes in Plasma and Urine Metabolite Profiles Assessed by Untargeted Metabolomics Using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS)

Outcome Measure Description:

Untargeted metabolomics analysis will be performed on plasma and urine samples collected from patients before and after treatment. The measurement tool is liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The outcome measure is the relative abundance of detected metabolites.

Unit of measure: Normalized peak intensity (arbitrary units) or relative ion count.
week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Fecal Gut Microbiota Metagenomics
Time Frame: week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Outcome Measure Title:

Changes in Gut Microbial Composition and Functional Genes Assessed by Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing of Fecal Samples

Outcome Measure Description:

Shotgun metagenomic sequencing will be performed on fecal samples collected before and after treatment. The measurement tool is high-throughput next-generation sequencing (e.g., Illumina platform). The outcome measures include taxonomic relative abundance of microbial species, gene richness, and functional pathway abundances.

Unit of measure: Relative abundance (percentage of total reads) and reads per kilobase per million (RPKM) for gene quantification.
week 0 and the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 9, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 6, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • BJZYYB-2025-52

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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