[Summarization of the clinical and laboratory study on the rhubarb in treating chronic renal failure].

OBJECTIVE: To review the clinical and laboratory study on the rhubarb in the treatment of Chronic Renal Failure (CRF).
METHOD: Documents of clinical and mechanism study on chinese medicine rhubarb including the simple rhubarb and the rhubarb complex prescription in which rhubarb is the main effective ingredient in recent 10 years were searched and summarized. RESULT: Clinical application involving dosage forms, prescriptions, usage and effect of the rhubarb and its prescriptions in the treatment of the CRF and their laboratory study progress wre summarized.
CONCLUSION: Rhubarb and all kinds of its complex prescriptions have an assured effect on CRF and their mechanism includes many ways such as ameliorating azotemia, preventing nephritic compensatory hypertrophy and high metabolism situation, and so on. So the rhubarb can be used as an ideal medicine in treating CRF in a long period of time and will have a very brilliant prospect.