The American journal of Chinese medicine
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Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHM) are the most common interventions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), typically administered as either single herbs or formulas. Systematic reviews (SRs) are essential references for evaluating the efficacy and safety of CHM treatments accurately and reliably. Unfortunately, the reporting quality of SRs with CHM is not optimal, especially the reporting of CHM interventions and the rationale of why these interventions were selected. ⋯ A total of twenty-four items (including sub-items) are included in the checklist, relating to title (1), structured summary (2), rationale (3), objectives (4), eligibility criteria (6), data items (11), synthesis of results (14, 21), additional analyses (16, 23), study characteristics (18), summary of evidence (24), and conclusions (26). Illustrative examples and explanations are also provided. The group hopes that PRISMA-CHM 2020 will improve the reporting quality of SRs of CHM.
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Review
A Review of Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Properties of the Genus Saururus.
The genus Saururus, belonging to Saururaceae, contains two species, S. cernuus L. and S. chinensis (Lour) Baill. with common utilization in traditional medicine from Asia to North America for the treatment of edema, beriberi, jaundice, leucorrhea, urinary tract infections, hypertension, hepatitis diseases, and tumors. An extensive review of literature was made on traditional uses, phytochemistry, and ethnopharmacology of Saururus using ethno-botanical books, published articles, and electronic databases. ⋯ Due to the noteworthy pharmacological properties, Saururus can be a better option for new drug discovery. Data regarding many aspects of this plant such as toxicology, pharmacokinetics, quality-control measures, and the clinical value of the active compounds is still limited which call for additional studies.
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The outbreak caused by COVID-19 is causing a major challenge to clinical management and a worldwide threat to public health. So far, there is no specific anti-coronavirus therapy approved for the treatment of COVID-19. Recently, as the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely acknowledged, it has been brought to a crucial status by the public, governments, and World Health Organization (WHO). ⋯ Therefore, on the basis of epidemiology and virology information, we reviewed relevant meta-analysis and clinical studies of anti-coronavirus therapeutics by TCM, in the aspect of mortality, symptom improvement, duration and dosage of corticosteroid, incidence of complications and the like. In addition, we also summarized preclinical rationale for anti-coronavirus activity by TCM in terms of virion assembly and release, as well as viral entry and replication, which could be a useful contribution for figuring out effective Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for coronavirus, including ingredients from single monomeric compounds, Chinese herbs, Chinese herb extracts and Chinese herb formulas, or potential targets for medicine. We would like to see these relevant studies, ranging from basic researches to clinical application, could provide some idea on effects of CHM to combat COVID-19 or other coronaviruses, and also offer new thinking for the exploration of therapeutic strategies under the guidance of TCM.
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Acupuncture reduces pain by activating specific areas called acupoints on the patient's body. When these acupoints are fully activated, sensations of soreness, numbness, fullness, or heaviness called De qi or Te qi are felt by clinicians and patients. There are two kinds of acupuncture, manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture (EA). ⋯ The descending pain modulation system in the brain, including the anterior cingulated cortex, the periaqueductal gray, and the rostral ventromedial medulla, plays an important role in EA analgesia. Multiple transmitters and modulators, including endogenous opioids, cholecystokinin octapeptide, 5-hydroxytryptamine, glutamate, noradrenalin, dopamine, [Formula: see text]-aminobutyric acid, acetylcholine, and orexin A, are involved in acupuncture analgesia. Finally, the "Acupuncture [Formula: see text]" strategy is introduced to help clinicians achieve better analgesic effects, and a newly reported acupuncture method called acupoint catgut embedding, which injects sutures made of absorbable materials at acupoints to achieve long-term effects, is discussed.
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a catastrophic disease associated with damaged neurological structures and has become a significant social and economic burden for the health care system and patients' families. The use of Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) to treat SCI has been increasing in recent years. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effectiveness of CHM for patients with SCI. ⋯ The methodological quality of the most included RCTs was poor and the quality of evidence for the main outcomes was from very low to moderate according to the GRADE system. Current evidence suggests that CHM is an effective and safe treatment for SCI and could be treated as a complementary and alternative option with few side effects. However, considering the low quality, small size, and high risk of the studies identified in this meta-analysis, higher methodological quality, rigorously designed RCTs with large sample sizes are needed to confirm the results.