PMID- 32328130
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20220414
IS  - 1741-427X (Print)
IS  - 1741-4288 (Electronic)
IS  - 1741-427X (Linking)
VI  - 2020
DP  - 2020
TI  - Efficacy and Safety of Integrated Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western 
      Medicine on the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Meta-Analysis.
PG  - 4348709
LID - 10.1155/2020/4348709 [doi]
LID - 4348709
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Integrated therapy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western 
      medicine (WM) has gradually been applied to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis 
      (RA). Recently published studies have provided a wealth of data and information 
      about the effectiveness of combination treatments, but high-quality 
      evidence-based meta-analysis on this issue is not available yet. This study was 
      conducted to compare and evaluate the efficacy and safety of the integrated 
      therapy for RA. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched 
      up to January 2020. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the 
      efficacy and safety of integrative TCM-WM with WM alone for RA were included. The 
      outcome measures contained therapeutic effects (TEs), tender joint count (TJC), 
      swollen joint count (SJC), duration of morning stiffness (DMS), grip strength 
      (GS), disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28), rheumatoid factor (RF), 
      anti-cyclic peptide containing citrulline (anti-CCP), erythrocyte sedimentation 
      rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and adverse events (AEs) to assess the 
      efficacy and safety of different treatments. RESULTS: A total of 20 RCTs with 
      2269 patients met the inclusion criteria. TCM used in these studies included 
      Chinese herbal decoctions and tablets or capsules made from herbs and their 
      extracts, while WM included disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), 
      nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and glucocorticoids (GC). Compared 
      with patients receiving WM treatment alone, patients with integrative TCM-WM 
      treatment showed better TEs (OR = 3.03, 95% CI [2.36, 3.88]). The integrative 
      treatment group showed reductions in TJC (MD = -1.17, 95% CI [-2.12, -0.21]), SJC 
      (MD = -0.87, 95% CI [-1.85, 0.10]), DMS (SMD = -0.69, 95% CI [-0.98, -0.41]), 
      DAS28 (MD = -0.43, 95% CI [-0.57, -0.29]), RF (SMD = -0.59, 95% CI [-0.91, 
      -0.27]), anti-CCP (SMD = -0.21, 95% CI [-0.36, -0.06]), ESR (MD = -8.36, 95% CI 
      [-12.60, -4.12]), and CRP (MD = -6.73, 95% CI [-9.38, -4.08]), and increment in 
      GS (SMD = 0.12, 95% CI [-0.63, 0.87]). AEs, especially gastrointestinal 
      disorders, abnormal liver function, leukopenia, skin allergies and rashes, 
      headaches and dizziness, and alopecia, significantly decreased (OR = 0.37, 95% CI 
      [0.29, 0.47]) in the integrative treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of 
      this meta-analysis indicate that integrative TCM-WM could obtain effective and 
      safe results in the treatment of RA. Using TCM as an adjunctive therapy in RA has 
      great prospects for further development.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2020 Qi Xing et al.
FAU - Xing, Qi
AU  - Xing Q
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-5926-3276
AD  - The First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 
      Nanjing 210023, China.
FAU - Fu, Ling
AU  - Fu L
AD  - The First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 
      Nanjing 210023, China.
FAU - Yu, Zhichao
AU  - Yu Z
AD  - The First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 
      Nanjing 210023, China.
FAU - Zhou, Xueping
AU  - Zhou X
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-1007-6757
AD  - The First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 
      Nanjing 210023, China.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
DEP - 20200402
PL  - United States
TA  - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
JT  - Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM
JID - 101215021
PMC - PMC7154968
COIS- The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this work.
EDAT- 2020/04/25 06:00
MHDA- 2020/04/25 06:01
PMCR- 2020/04/02
CRDT- 2020/04/25 06:00
PHST- 2019/10/23 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2020/01/26 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2020/02/20 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2020/04/25 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2020/04/25 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2020/04/25 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2020/04/02 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1155/2020/4348709 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 Apr 2;2020:4348709. doi: 
      10.1155/2020/4348709. eCollection 2020.