scholarly journals Chinese Herbal Medicine for Myelosuppression Induced by Chemotherapy or Radiotherapy: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youji Jia ◽  
Huihui Du ◽  
Min Yao ◽  
Xuejun Cui ◽  
Qi Shi ◽  
...  

Background. Myelosuppression is one of the major side effects of chemo- and radiotherapy in cancer patients and there are no effective interventions to prevent it currently. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) may be helpful due to its multidrug targets.Objectives.This study was designed to evaluate effectiveness of CHM on preventing patients from experiencing myelosuppression by chemo- or radiotherapy.Search Methods.Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were retrieved from seven different databases from the date of database creation to April 2014. We assessed all included studies using Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions 5.1.0 and performed statistical analysis using RevMan 5.2.1.Results. Eight RCTs were included (818 patients). Pooled data showed that increase of white blood cells (WBCs) is higher with CHM plus chemotherapy/radiotherapy than with chemotherapy/radiotherapy only. Both CHM compared to placebo and CHM combined with chemotherapy/radiotherapy compared to chemotherapy/radiotherapy lacked significant differences in the peripheral platelets, red blood cells (RBCs), and hemoglobin changes.Conclusions.Our results demonstrated that CHM significantly protected peripheral blood WBCs from a decrease caused by chemotherapy or radiotherapy. There were no significant protective effects on peripheral RBCs, hemoglobin, or platelets, which may be related to low quality and small sample of included studies.

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Xingjiang Xiong ◽  
Guoyan Yang ◽  
Yuqing Zhang ◽  
Yongmei Liu ◽  
...  

Background. Chinese herbs are potentially effective for hypertension. Qi Ju Di Huang Wan (QJDHW) is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine as a monotherapy or in combination with other antihypertensive agents for the treatment of essential hypertension (EH). However, there is no critically appraised evidence such as systematic reviews or meta-analyses on the effectiveness and safety of QJDHW for EH.Methods and Findings. CENTRAL, PubMed, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and online clinical trial registry websites were searched for published and unpublished randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of QJDHW for essential hypertension up to January 2013 with no language restrictions. A total of 10 randomized trials involving 1024 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that QJDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs was more effective in lowering blood pressure and improving TCM syndrome for the treatment of essential hypertension than antihypertensive drugs used alone. No trials reported severe adverse events related to QJDHW.Conclusions. Our review suggests that QJDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs might be an effective treatment for lowering blood pressure and improving symptoms in patients with essential hypertension. However, the finding should be interpreted with caution because of the poor methodological quality of included trials. There is an urgent need for well-designed, long-term studies to assess the effectiveness of QJDHW in the treatment of essential hypertension.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Ai-ju Liu ◽  
Hui-qin Li ◽  
Ji-huang Li ◽  
Yuan-yuan Wang ◽  
Dong Chen ◽  
...  

Aspirin resistance (AR) is a prevalent phenomenon and leads to significant clinical consequences, but the current evidence for effective interventional strategy is insufficient. The objective of this systematic review is thus to assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for AR. A systematical literature search was conducted in 6 databases until December 2012 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CHM for AR. As a result, sixteen RCTs with a total of 1011 subjects were identified, suggesting that the interests of the medical profession and the public in the use of CHM for AR have grown considerably in the recent years. Tongxinluo capsule and Danshen-based prescriptions were the most frequently used herbal prescriptions, while danshen root, milkvetch root, Leech, and Rosewood were the most frequently used single herbs. Despite the apparent reported positive findings, it is premature to determine the efficacy and safety of CHM for the treatment of AR due to poor methodological quality and insufficient safety data. However, CHMs appeared to be well tolerated in all included studies. Thus, CHM as a promising candidate is worthy of improvement and development for further clinical AR trials. Large sample-size and well-designed rigorous RCTs are needed.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255665
Author(s):  
Yun-bo Wu ◽  
Yun-kai Dai ◽  
Ling Zhang ◽  
Huai-geng Pan ◽  
Wei-jing Chen ◽  
...  

Introduction Plenty of clinical studies have suggested the value of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but their efficacy and safety have not been systematically concluded yet. This article aimed to compare and rank the therapeutic effect and safety of CHM with routine pharmacotherapies and placebo in the treatment of IBS. Methods Randomized controlled trials regarding CHM to treat IBS were searched in six databases from inception to Jan 31, 2020. A network meta-analysis was conducted to analyze the data of included publications. The quality assessment was assessed by Cochrane Handbook and GRADEpro software. The risk ratio was calculated for dichotomous outcomes while the standardized mean difference was used for continuous variables with 95% credible intervals. A Funnel plot was performed to evaluate publication bias. The surface under the cumulative ranking curve was conducted to rank the included interventions. Data were analyzed with STATA 15.0 and Review Manager 5.3. Result 3194 records were searched, and 28 eligible trials involving 3323 patients ere identified. Compared with conventional therapies and placebo, Jianpi-Chushi therapy showed significant improvement in adequate relief and IBS symptom severity scale; Shugan-Jianpi therapy showed the best efficacy in relieving the abdominal pain and abdominal distension; Wenshen-Jianpi therapy had a better effect on avoiding adverse effects and improving stool character. Conclusion This study confirmed that CHM could be beneficial for patients with IBS in relieving their clinical symptoms and should be recommended as alternative therapies. The quality of evidence in this study based on the GRADE system was “low”.


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