Vaginal disease

which is also known as vaginal inflammation

is a common and frequent disease among gynecological outpatients. Specifically

it refers to the inflammation of vaginal mucosa and submucosa-related tissues. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) and candidal vaginitis (CV) are two common vaginal diseases

which cause great impacts on women's daily life and study. At present

therapies for BV and CV have been improved from previously western medicine or antibiotic therapy into today's complete traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions and integrated TCM and western medicines. And there has been a good development in the prevention of BV and CV. Compared with western medicine or antibiotics

TCM can be applied based on syndrome differentiation

with a stable and better curative effect and less side effects

and thus being easily accepted by patients. The restoration of a normal vaginal microbial environment is the foundation for curing vaginal disease

which is the purpose of TCM in the treatment of vaginal diseases. However

there are many kinds of Chinese medicinal herbs that can be used to treat BV and CV

and the treatment mechanisms are complex. In this paper

we consulted Chinese and English literatures in authoritative databases in recent years

and discusses pathogenesis of BV and CV

common TCM for the treatment of BV and CV

and their treatment mechanism

in order to provide new ideas for treating recurrent BV and CV and new drug R&D. The paper summarizes the three kinds of BV pathogenesis and five processes of CV pathogenesis. According to the statistics

there are 123 kinds of main TCM for treating BV

133 kinds of main TCM for treating CV

and 84 kinds of main TCM for treating both diseases. And the main medicinal ingredients for treating BV and CV include alkaloid

glycosides

phenols

volatile oil

chlorogenic acid

flavonoids

pigments

and coumarin. TCM mechanisms for treating BV and CV are vitro antibacterial experiments

penetration increase of other antimicrobial agents

intracellular solution leakage

improvement of body immunity

and treatment with integrating traditional Chinese and western medicine. Finally

the paper shows some feasible suggestions on the problems existing in the treatment of BV and CV with TCM.