The American journal of Chinese medicine
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Meta Analysis
Efficacy and Safety of Chinese Medicine for COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine for COVID-19 treatment with a focus on the benefits of symptomatic relief and time-related indexes. Seven electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chongqing VIP, Wanfang Data, and Chinese Clinical Trial Registry) were systematically searched from their beginning to April 2021. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing patients using Western therapy (WT) alone and those using additional Chinese medicine (WT [Formula: see text] CM) were included. ⋯ WT [Formula: see text] CM significantly improved overall efficacy (risk ratio, RR [Formula: see text] 1.21; 95% CI: 1.12 to 1.30; [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] 0.01) and lung recovery (RR [Formula: see text] 1.30; 95% CI:1.19 to 1.42; [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] 0.01) and shortened the time to viral assay conversion (weighted mean differences, WMD [Formula: see text]1.38; 95% CI: -1.98 to -0.78; [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] 0.01) and duration of chest distress (WMD [Formula: see text] 2.41; 95% CI: -2.99 to -1.83; [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] 0.01) compared to WT alone. There was no difference in safety between the WT [Formula: see text] CM and WT groups (RR [Formula: see text] 0.94; 95% CI: 0.64 to 1.39; [Formula: see text] 0.76). In conclusion, the synthesized evidence from 15 RCTs showed that additional Chinese medication may improve treatment efficacy, relieve symptoms, promote lung recovery, and reduce the inflammatory response against COVID-19, while not increasing the risk of adverse events compared with conventional Western medication alone.
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As an endemic species,Wolfiporia cocos (F. A. Wolf) Ryvarden & Gilb. is widely distributed, such as in China, Korea, Japan, and North America, which have had a dual-purpose resource for medicines and food for over 2000 years. ⋯ Modern pharmacological studies showed that the components hold a wide range of pharmacological activities both in vitro and in vivo, such as antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-oxidant, and antidepressant activities. In addition, present results showed that the mechanisms of pharmacological activities were closely related to chemical structures, molecular signaling paths and the expression of relate proteins for polysaccharides and triterpenes. For further in-depth studies on this fungus based on the recent research status, this review provided some perspectives and systematic summaries of W. cocos in traditional uses, chemical components, pharmacological activities, separation and analysis technologies, and structure-activity relationships.
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A growing body of evidence supports the use of perioperative acupuncture as part of an enhanced postsurgical recovery protocol. Data from both clinical trials and animal studies has shown that the integration of acupuncture into perioperative patient care leads to a reduction of perioperative complications such as preoperative anxiety, intraoperative hemodynamic instability, postoperative pain, postoperative cognitive dysfunction, and postoperative nausea and vomiting in surgical patients. ⋯ To facilitate acupuncture integration in perioperative care practice, the authors propose to establish a perioperative acupuncture registry which can be used for data mining as well as a resource for studying the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture. Through this acupuncture registry, clinical guidelines and research protocols can be established, additional large/multi-center clinical and pragmatic trials can be easily performed to determine if the integration and expansion of perioperative acupuncture practice is cost-effective.
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Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a highly confounding and fatal pathological process with finite treatment options. Multiple factors such as oxidative and immune/inflammation involve key pathological processes in chronic lung disease, and their intimate interactions mediate chronic lung damage, denudation of the alveolar epithelium, hyperproliferation of type II alveolar epithelial cells (AECIIs), proliferation and differentiation of fibroblasts, and the permeability of microvessels. We reviewed the classic mechanism of PF and highlighted a few emerging mechanisms for studying complex networks in lung disease pathology. ⋯ These compounds include resveratrol, curcumin, salvianolic acid B, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, gallic acid, corilagin. Each phenolic compound can exert its anti-PF effect through various mechanisms, and the signaling pathways involved in different phenolic compounds are not the same. This review summarized the available evidence on phenolic compounds' effectiveness in pulmonary diseases and explored the molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets of phenolic compounds from Chinese herbal medicine with the properties of inhibition of ongoing fibrogenesis and resolution of existing fibrosis.
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Diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are pandemic, requiring more therapeutic options. This retrospective cohort evaluated the effectiveness, safety profile and prescription pattern of a pilot integrative medicine service program in Hong Kong. Data from 38 patients with diabetes and CKD enrolled to receive 48-week individualized add-on Chinese medicine (CM) were retrieved from the electronically linked hospital database. ⋯ The top seven most used CMs contained two classical formulations, namely Liu-wei-di-huang-wan and Si-jun-zi-tang. Individualized add-on CM was associated with significant kidney function preservation and was well tolerated. Further randomized controlled trials using CM prescriptions based on Liu-wei-di-huang-wan and Si-jun-zi-tang are warranted.