scholarly journals Whether Chinese Medicine Have Effect on Halitosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyu Wu ◽  
Jie Zhang ◽  
Yikun Zhou ◽  
Ze He ◽  
Qiaoyi Cai ◽  
...  

Object. Halitosis has great adverse impact on personal and social life. There is no strong evidence for the effect of Chinese medicine (CM) and combined Chinese and western medicine (CWM) on halitosis. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effective rate of CM and CWM on halitosis. Materials and Methods. Literature search in English and Chinese was conducted in PubMed, Embase, CNKI, CBM, and Wanfang database. Study selection and data collection were conducted. Risks of bias were assessed by the Cochrane tool. Synthesis of results was done by RevMan 5.3. p<0.05 was considered significant difference. Subgroup analysis by classification of halitosis and sensitivity analysis were also conducted. Results. Seventeen studies were included. The follow-up length ranged from five days to eight weeks. CM had significantly better effect than WM on intraoral halitosis (I2 =24%; RR=1.21 (95% CI, 1.04, 1.40), P=0.01) and extraoral halitosis (I2 =0; RR=1.39 (95% CI, 1.19, 1.63), P<0.0001). CWM had significantly better effect than WM on intraoral halitosis (I2 =0; RR=1.25 (95% CI, 1.16, 1.35), P<0.00001) and extraoral halitosis (I2 =0; RR=1.19 (95% CI, 1.08, 1.31), P=0.0004). Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis showed insignificant results. Conclusion. With the limitation of our study, both CM and CWM have significantly better effect on halitosis than WM. More effort should be made to explore long-term effect of CM and CWM on halitosis. This study was registered with the PROSPERO (ID: CRD42018107229).

2021 ◽  
pp. svn-2020-000781
Author(s):  
Linda LD Zhong ◽  
Ya Zheng ◽  
Alexander Y Lau ◽  
Norman Wong ◽  
Liang Yao ◽  
...  

BackgroundStroke is a major cause of death or long-term disability worldwide. Many patients with stroke receive integrative therapy consisting of Western medicine (WM) and routine rehabilitation in conjunction with Chinese medicine (CM), such as acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. However, there is no available evidence on the effectiveness of the combined use of WM and CM interventions in stroke rehabilitation.AimsThe purpose of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the results of all individual studies to assess the combined use of CM and WM in stroke rehabilitation compared with WM only.MethodsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines were followed. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched. The included outcomes were dependency, motor function, depression and swallowing function. Subgroup analysis was performed, and publication bias was assessed using funnel plots.Summary of review58 studies and 6339 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis revealed that combined therapy comprising both acupuncture and WM had a superior effect on improving dependency and swallowing function compared with standard WM therapy alone. Potential superiority of combined therapy comprising CM and WM in improving depression compared with standard WM therapy was also found.ConclusionsOur results indicate that the combined use of CM and WM could be more efficacious in stroke rehabilitation compared with the use of WM therapy alone. However, most studies were short in duration (2 to 4 weeks) and prone to different types of biases, which prevents making any conclusion regarding the long-term effects and raises concerns regarding true efficacy in context of high likelihood of Hawthorn bias. So, more randomised controlled trials with more rigorous design and longer duration of treatment and follow-up need to be conducted to compare WM alone versus WM and CM combined.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020152050.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohuan Chen ◽  
Lei Liu ◽  
Lei Liao ◽  
Yahui Wang ◽  
Jiacheng Shi ◽  
...  

Background: The study of regulatory B cells (Bregs) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been in full swing in recent years, but the number and function of Bregs in SLE patients have also present quite contradictory results. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to verify the changes in Bregs in active SLE. Methods: We identified studies reporting the proportions of Bregs in SLE patients by searching Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane and CNKI. Due to the degree of heterogeneity is very high, we used a random effects model to assess the mean differences in percentages of Bregs between active SLE and controls. Then, sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were performed to verify potential sources of heterogeneity. Results: Seven eligible articles involving 301 active SLE patients and 218 controls were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled percentages of Bregs were found no significant difference between active SLE patients and healthy controls [0.259, (−1.150, 1.668), p = 0.719], with great heterogeneity ( I2 = 97.5%) . The result of sensitivity analysis showed that exclusion of any single study or single article did not materially resolve the heterogeneity, but after excluding the article conducted by Cai X and his colleagues, the percentages of Bregs were significantly higher in active SLE than those in controls [1.394, (0.114,2.675), p = 0.033]. The results of subgroup analysis revealed that when the disease activity was judged by SLEDAI score ≥ 5, the percentages of Bregs were significantly lower in the SLE groups than in the control groups[-1.99,(-3.241,-0.739), p = 0.002], but when the threshold of SLEDAI score ≥ 6 chosen for active SLE, the percentages of Bregs were significantly increased in the SLE groups[2.546,(1.333,3.759), p < 0.001]. Meanwhile, other subgroup analysis based on the different phenotypes of Bregs, diagnostic criteria, enrolled research countries, treatment status, and organ involvement did not differ in proportion of Bregs between SLE patients and controls. Conclusions: The study implies that Bregs may play a role in the pathogenesis of active SLE, and the thresholds of SLEDAI score to distinguish between active and inactive SLE patients are important factors affecting the percentages of Bregs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masoud Khosravipour ◽  
Roya Safari-Faramani ◽  
Fatemeh Rajati ◽  
Fariborz Omidi

Abstract This study systematically reviews the long-term impact of exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 µm on the incidence of myocardial infarction (MI). The relevant databases were searched with appropriate keywords on February 29, 2020. A random-effects model through a generic inverse-variance method was used to calculate the pooled hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of MI. The number of 17 cohort studies with more than 18 million participants and 800,000 cases of MI were included. A significantly higher risk of MI was observed per 1 µg/m3 increment of PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 µm (HR= 1.02,95 % CI = 1.01, 1.03). Subgroup analysis according to the study population indicates subjects with cardiovascular diseases history had a significantly greater risk of MI per 1 µg/m3 increase in PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 µm level (HR= 1.05,95% CI= 1.01, 1.08). Subgroup analysis according to aerodynamic diameter of PM showed only a significant stronger risk of MI per 1 µg/m3 increase in PM with aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 µm (HR= 1.01,95% CI= 1.00, 1.02). The pooled result confirms a significant association between the long-term exposure to PM air pollution and the developing of MI.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiali Li ◽  
Xixi Zhao ◽  
Yangyang Zhang ◽  
Haitong Wan ◽  
Yu He ◽  
...  

Background: Keeping in view the high recurrence rate and risk of ischemic stroke, combinatorial therapy involving traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with conventional Western medicine (WM) is receiving wider scientific attention. Thus, a systematical analysis was made to explore the efficacy of TCM+WM in the long-term secondary prevention for patients with ischemic stroke.Methods: Qualified inclusion and exclusion criteria were set up beforehand, and two researchers independently read the articles, extracted data, and evaluated the quality of included articles according to Cochrane Reviewer’s Handbook 5.1 method. For the sake of comprehensive data acquisition, seven databases from the time of their establishment to May 5, 2021, have been searched completely. Additionally, pairwise meta-analysis was made to compare TCM+WM vs. WM, and network meta-analysis was conducted by frequentist random effects models for the comparison of different kinds of TCM+WM via indirect evidence. The primary outcomes defined were recurrent stroke and NIHSS. Secondary outcomes were fibrinogen (Fib) fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC). Safety outcomes were outlined as all-cause mortality and adverse events (AEs). Furthermore, Stata16.0 software was used to accomplish the systematical analysis and cluster analysis.Results: In total, 47 qualified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) including 10,732 patients were taken into consideration. Seven traditional Chinese medicines included in the study are Naoxintong capsule (NXT), Tongxinluo capsule (TXL), Buyang Huanwu decoction (BYHW), Naomaitai capsule (NMT), Dengzhan Shengmai capsule (DZSM), Naoshuantong capsule (NST), and Maixuekang capsule (MXK). With respect to their primary outcomes, all kinds of TCM+WM were significantly more effective than WM (e.g., NXT in recurrent stroke (OR=0.54, P&lt;0.01), TXL in NIHSS (WM=−1.4, P&lt;0.01)). Additionally, the outcomes of cluster analysis indicated that MXK+WM and NST+WM had relatively good preventive effects for recurrent stroke, NIHSS, and all-cause mortality. There was no significant difference in the comparisons of AEs; however, this may arise from the lack of sufficient data.Conclusion: According to our systematical analysis, MXK+WM and NST+WM had relatively good secondary prevention effects for patients with ischemic stroke regarding recurrent stroke, NIHSS, and all-cause mortality. Nevertheless, better, high-quality, large-sample randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are required to verify our conclusions in the future.Systematic Review Registration: [https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2021-5-0036/], identifier [INPLASY202150036].


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aongart Mahittikorn ◽  
Frederick Ramirez Masangkay ◽  
Kwuntida Uthaisar Kotepui ◽  
Giovanni De Jesus Milanez ◽  
Manas Kotepui

Abstract Background Malaria mixed infections are often unrecognized by microscopists in the hospitals, and a delay or failure to treat Plasmodium-mixed infection may lead to aggravated morbidity and increased mortality. The present study aimed to quantify the pooled proportion and risk of malarial recurrences after the treatment of Plasmodium-mixed infection. The results of the study may provide benefits in the management of Plasmodium-mixed infection in co-endemic regions. Methods This systematic review and meta-analysis searched the international Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; ID = CRD42020199709), MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus for potentially relevant studies in any language published between January 1, 1936, and July 20, 2020, assessing drug efficacy in patients with Plasmodium-mixed infection. The primary outcome was the pooled prevalence of Plasmodium parasitemia after initiating antimalarial treatment for Plasmodium-mixed infection. The secondary outcome was the pooled risk ratio (RR) of malarial recurrence in Plasmodium-mixed infection compared with those in Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax mono-infection. The pooled analyses were calculated by random-effects meta-analysis. After the initial treatment in different days of recurrences (≤ 28 days or > 28 days), the risk of Plasmodium parasitemia was compared in subgroup analysis. Results Out of 5217 screened studies, 11 were included in the meta-analysis, including 4390 patients from six countries. The pooled prevalence of all recurrences of Plasmodium-mixed parasitemia was 30% (95% confidence interval (CI) 16–43; I2: 99.2%; 11 studies). The RR of malarial recurrence within 28 days after the initial treatment (clinical treatment failure) of Plasmodium-mixed parasitemia compared with the treatment of P. falciparum was 1.22 (p: 0.029; 95% CI 1.02–1.47; Cochran Q: 0.93; I2: 0%; six studies), while there was no significant difference in the risk of recurrence 28 days after initial treatment compared with the treatment of P. falciparum (p: 0.696, RR: 1.14; 95% CI 0.59–2.18; Cochran Q < 0.05; I2: 98.2%; four studies). The subgroup analysis of antimalarial drugs showed that significant malarial recurrence within 28 days was observed in patients treated with artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) with no significant heterogeneity (p: 0.028, RR: 1.31; 95% CI 1.03–1.66; Cochran Q: 0.834; I2: 0%). Conclusions The present findings showed a high prevalence of malarial recurrence after the initial treatment of Plasmodium-mixed infection. Moreover, significant malaria recurrence of mixed infection occurred within 28 days after treatment with ACTs. Graphic Abstract


Author(s):  
Ju Sun Heo ◽  
Jiwon M. Lee

The preterm-born adult population is ever increasing following improved survival rates of premature births. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate long-term effects of preterm birth on renal function in preterm-born survivors. We searched PubMed and EMBASE to identify studies that compared renal function in preterm-born survivors and full-term-born controls, published until 2 February 2019. A random effects model with standardized mean difference (SMD) was used for meta-analyses. Heterogeneity of the studies was evaluated using Higgin’s I2 statistics. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa quality assessment scale. Of a total of 24,388 articles screened, 27 articles were finally included. Compared to full-term-born controls, glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow were significantly decreased in preterm survivors (SMD −0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI), −0.85 to −0.22, p = 0.0008; SMD −0.39, 95% CI, −0.74 to −0.04, p = 0.03, respectively). Length and volume of the kidneys were significantly decreased in the preterm group compared to the full-term controls (SMD −0.73, 95% CI, −1.04 to −0.41, p < 0.001; SMD −0.82, 95% CI, −1.05 to −0.60, p < 0.001, respectively). However, serum levels of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and cystatin C showed no significant difference. The urine microalbumin to creatinine ratio was significantly increased in the preterm group. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were also significantly elevated in the preterm group, although the plasma renin level did not differ. This meta-analysis demonstrates that preterm-born survivors may be subject to decreased glomerular filtration, increased albuminuria, decreased kidney size and volume, and hypertension even though their laboratory results may not yet deteriorate.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianglei Ma ◽  
Xiaoyao Li ◽  
Shifu Zhao ◽  
Jiawei Wang ◽  
Wujia Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background It remains no clear conclusion about which is better between robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) and video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Therefore, this meta-analysis aimed to compare the short-term and long-term efficacy between RATS and VATS for NSCLC. Methods Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Medline, and Web of Science databases were comprehensively searched for studies published before December 2020. The quality of the articles was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) and the data analyzed using the Review Manager 5.3 software. Fixed or random effect models were applied according to heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were conducted. Results A total of 18 studies including 11,247 patients were included in the meta-analyses, of which 5114 patients were in the RATS group and 6133 in the VATS group. Compared with VATS, RATS was associated with less blood loss (WMD = − 50.40, 95% CI -90.32 ~ − 10.48, P = 0.010), lower conversion rate (OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.43 ~ 0.60, P < 0.001), more harvested lymph nodes (WMD = 1.72, 95% CI 0.63 ~ 2.81, P = 0.002) and stations (WMD = 0.51, 95% CI 0.15 ~ 0.86, P = 0.005), shorter duration of postoperative chest tube drainage (WMD = − 0.61, 95% CI -0.78 ~ − 0.44, P < 0.001) and hospital stay (WMD = − 1.12, 95% CI -1.58 ~ − 0.66, P < 0.001), lower overall complication rate (OR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.83 ~ 0.99, P = 0.020), lower recurrence rate (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.36 ~ 0.72, P < 0.001), and higher cost (WMD = 3909.87 USD, 95% CI 3706.90 ~ 4112.84, P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between RATS and VATS in operative time, mortality, overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS). Sensitivity analysis showed that no significant differences were found between the two techniques in conversion rate, number of harvested lymph nodes and stations, and overall complication. Conclusions The results revealed that RATS is a feasible and safe technique compared with VATS in terms of short-term and long-term outcomes. Moreover, more randomized controlled trials comparing the two techniques with rigorous study designs are still essential to evaluate the value of robotic surgery for NSCLC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Peng ◽  
Jinze Li ◽  
Chunyang Meng ◽  
Jinming Li ◽  
Dandan Tang ◽  
...  

BackgroundThis study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of telomerase activity (TA) for bladder cancer (BC) by meta-analysis.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search of studies published on PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science up to June 1, 2019. We used Stata 15 and Review Manager 5.3 for calculations and statistical analysis.ResultsTo evaluate the diagnostic value of TA for BC, we performed a meta-analysis on 22 studies, with a total of 2,867 individuals, including sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratio (PLR, NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The pooled parameters were calculated from all studies, and we found a sensitivity of 0.79 (95% CI: 0.72–0.84), a specificity of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87–0.94), a PLR of 8.91 (95% CI: 5.91–13.43), an NLR of 0.24 (95% CI: 0.15–0.37), a DOR of 37.90 (95% CI: 23.32–61.59), and an AUC of 0.92 (95% CI: 0.90–0.94). We also conducted a subgroup analysis based on the different stages and grades of BC. Results from the subgroup analysis showed that there was no significant difference in TA in either high and low stages of BC, but that low-grade tumors had a lower TA than high-grade tumours.ConclusionsTA can be used as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of bladder cancer with its high specificity. Rigorous and high-quality prospective studies are required to verify our conclusion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yu Chen ◽  
Shaobin Wei ◽  
Li Huang ◽  
Mei Luo ◽  
Yang Wu ◽  
...  

Background. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) without timely and proper treatment can cause long-term sequelae; meanwhile, patients will be confronted with the antimicrobial resistance and side effects. Chinese patent medicine as a supplement is used to treat PID with satisfactory clinical efficacy. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of Fuke Qianjin (FKQJ) combined with antibiotics in the treatment of PID. Methods. Eight electronic databases and other resources were searched to make a collection of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from 1990 to 2019. The RCTs contrasting the effect of FKQJ combined with antibiotics regimens and antibiotics alone in reproductive women with PID were included. The antibiotics regimens are all recommended by the guidelines. Two reviewers independently screened the studies, extracted the data, and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. Then, the meta-analyses were performed by RevMan 5. 3 software if appropriate. Results. Twenty-three RCTs (2527 women) were included in this review. The evidence showed that FKQJ combined with antibiotics improved the markedly effective rate compared to antibiotics alone group (RR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.27 to 1.49, I2 = 42%), shortened the improvement time of low abdominal pain (MD = −1.11, 95% CI −1.39 to −0.84, I2 = 38%), and increased the rate of lower abdominal pain improvement (RR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.55, I2 = 0). The implementation of adjuvant reduced the recurrent rate compared with antibiotics alone (RR = 0.27, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.56, I2 = 0%). Conclusions. Based on available evidence, FKQJ combined with antibiotics therapy have certain outcomes on increasing the markedly effective rate, decreasing the recurrent rate compared with antibiotics alone group. This therapy appears to improve lower abdominal pain and curtail the relief time. Due to the low quality and the risk of bias, any high-quality evidence or longer follow-up period should be advisable and necessary in the future.


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