Predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methods

Abstract In recent years, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as Ulcerative Colitis (UC) has increased, bringing a heavy burden to healthcare systems. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) stands out for its cost-effective and efficient treatment modalities, providing unique advantages in healthcar...

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Main Authors: Ling Zhu, Shan He, Wanting Zheng, Yuanyuan Tong, Feng Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04824-5
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author Ling Zhu
Shan He
Wanting Zheng
Yuanyuan Tong
Feng Yang
author_facet Ling Zhu
Shan He
Wanting Zheng
Yuanyuan Tong
Feng Yang
author_sort Ling Zhu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In recent years, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as Ulcerative Colitis (UC) has increased, bringing a heavy burden to healthcare systems. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) stands out for its cost-effective and efficient treatment modalities, providing unique advantages in healthcare. But syndrome differentiation of UC presents a longstanding challenge in TCM due to its chronic nature and varied manifestations. While existing research has primarily explored machine learning applications for diagnosis and prognosis prediction, the critical issue of explainability in syndrome differentiation remains underexamined. To bridge this gap, we propose an ensemble prediction model enhanced with SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) and LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations) to improve interpretability and clinical utility. Our study utilizes a dataset of 8078 electronic medical records from Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, collected between 2006 and 2019. Comprehensive evaluations demonstrate that our ensemble models outperform individual deep learning approaches, with the Gradient Boosting (GB) model achieving 83% F1 in syndrome differentiation. Furthermore, SHAP and LIME reveal key features associated with different syndromes, such as frequent stool in spleen-kidney yang deficiency and lower abdominal coldness in spleen yang deficiency, offering valuable insights for intelligent syndrome differentiation. These findings hold significant promise for advancing TCM-based UC management, enhancing clinical decision-making, and improving patient outcomes.
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spelling doaj-art-a77352568e504eb9a5efa533e82c83f82025-08-20T03:37:29ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111610.1038/s41598-025-04824-5Predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methodsLing Zhu0Shan He1Wanting Zheng2Yuanyuan Tong3Feng Yang4Institute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical SciencesSchool of Computer Science, Centre for Computational Biology, The University of BirminghamInstitute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical SciencesInstitute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical SciencesInstitute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical SciencesAbstract In recent years, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as Ulcerative Colitis (UC) has increased, bringing a heavy burden to healthcare systems. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) stands out for its cost-effective and efficient treatment modalities, providing unique advantages in healthcare. But syndrome differentiation of UC presents a longstanding challenge in TCM due to its chronic nature and varied manifestations. While existing research has primarily explored machine learning applications for diagnosis and prognosis prediction, the critical issue of explainability in syndrome differentiation remains underexamined. To bridge this gap, we propose an ensemble prediction model enhanced with SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) and LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations) to improve interpretability and clinical utility. Our study utilizes a dataset of 8078 electronic medical records from Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, collected between 2006 and 2019. Comprehensive evaluations demonstrate that our ensemble models outperform individual deep learning approaches, with the Gradient Boosting (GB) model achieving 83% F1 in syndrome differentiation. Furthermore, SHAP and LIME reveal key features associated with different syndromes, such as frequent stool in spleen-kidney yang deficiency and lower abdominal coldness in spleen yang deficiency, offering valuable insights for intelligent syndrome differentiation. These findings hold significant promise for advancing TCM-based UC management, enhancing clinical decision-making, and improving patient outcomes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04824-5Ulcerative colitisEnsemble machine learningInterpretabilitySHAPLIMESyndrome differentiation
spellingShingle Ling Zhu
Shan He
Wanting Zheng
Yuanyuan Tong
Feng Yang
Predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methods
Scientific Reports
Ulcerative colitis
Ensemble machine learning
Interpretability
SHAP
LIME
Syndrome differentiation
title Predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methods
title_full Predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methods
title_fullStr Predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methods
title_full_unstemmed Predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methods
title_short Predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methods
title_sort predictive model of ulcerative colitis syndrome with ensemble learning and interpretability methods
topic Ulcerative colitis
Ensemble machine learning
Interpretability
SHAP
LIME
Syndrome differentiation
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04824-5
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AT yuanyuantong predictivemodelofulcerativecolitissyndromewithensemblelearningandinterpretabilitymethods
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