Search

This study was conducted to assess the effects and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) on blood lipids among adults with overweight or obesity. Fourteen bibliographic databases were comprehensively searched, from their respective inceptions up to April 2021, for randomised placebo-controlled weight-loss trials using CHM formulation on total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol over ≥4 weeks. Data collection, risk of bias assessment, and statistical analyses were guided by the Cochrane Handbook (v6.1). Continuous outcomes were expressed as the mean difference with 95% confidence intervals, and categorical outcomes were expressed as a risk ratio with 95% confidence intervals. All analyses were two-tailed with a statistical significance of p

Objective. This review investigated the effects and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) formulas on weight management. Methods. Eighteen databases in English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese were searched from their inceptions to September 2019. The treatment groups included CHM formulations, and the control included placebo, Western medication (WM), and lifestyle intervention (LI), with or without cointerventions (WM and/or LI). Quality of studies was assessed using Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias assessment tool. Body weight and body mass index (BMI) were analysed in RevMan v5.4.1 and expressed as mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CI), while adverse events were expressed as risk ratio with 95% CI. Results. Thirty-nine RCTs were eligible for qualitative analysis, 34 of which were included in the meta-analyses. The majority of studies had a high or unclear risk of selection, performance, and detection bias. Twenty-five CHM studies involving cointerventions revealed that CHM had significant adjunct effects on body weight and BMI at the end of treatment compared to control. No serious adverse events were reported in the CHM groups. Conclusion. CHM indicates a promising adjunct to facilitate WM or lifestyle change for weight management. However, methodological barriers such as lack of allocation concealment and double-blinding may have led to challenges in data synthesis. More rigorously designed RCTs involving cointerventions are warranted.

Background. Phellodendri Cortex (PC) or Huang Bai. According to the scientific database of China Plant Species and Chinese pharmacopeia 2015 edition, PC has two main species which are Phellodendron amurense Rupr (PAR) or “Guan Huang bai” in Chinese and Phellodendron chinense Schneid (PCS) or “Chuan Huang bai” in Chinese. The crude drugs of PAR and PCS are also called Phellodendri amurensis cortex (PAC) and Phellodendri chinense cortex (PCC), respectively. The medicinal part of the plant is the dried trunk bark. PC has comprehensive therapeutic effects which include anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, hypotensive, antiarrhythmic, antioxidant, and antipyretic agents. The exact ingredients in PC and its species are not fully summarised. Aim of the Study. This study was designed to review and evaluate the pharmacological actions of compounds and to explore the pharmacokinetic knowledge of PC and its species and to also identify the chemical compound(s) with a potential therapeutic effect on atopic dermatitis. Methods. “Huang Bai” and its English, botanical, and pharmaceutical names were used as keywords to perform database search in Encyclopaedia of traditional Chinese Medicines, PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, and China Network Knowledge Infrastructure. The data selection criteria included all the studies that were related to the phytochemical, pharmacological, and pharmacokinetic perspectives of PC and its species or their active constituents. More importantly, the voucher number has been provided to ensure the genuine bark of PC used as the medicinal part in the studies. Results. 140 compounds were summarized from PC and its species: specifically, 18 compounds from PCC, 44 compounds from PCS, 34 compounds from PAC, and 84 compounds from PAR. Obacunone and obaculactone are probably responsible for antiatopic dermatitis effect. PC and its species possess a broad spectrum of pharmacological actions including anti-inflammatory effect, antibacterial effect, antiviral effect, antitumor effect, antigout effect, antiulcer effect, neuroprotective effect, and antiatopic dermatitis effect. PC could widely distribute in plasma, liver, spleen, kidney, and brain. Berberine may be responsible for the toxic effect on the susceptible users with hemolytic disease or in the peripartum and neonatal period. Conclusions. The compounds of the crude bark of PC and its subspecies have showcased a wide range of pharmacological effects. Pharmacological efficacies of PC are supported by its diverse class of alkaloid, limonoid, phenolic acid, quinic acid, lignan, and flavonoid. Obacunone and obaculactone could be the bioactive compounds for atopic dermatitis management. PC and its subspecies are generally safe to use but extra care is required for certain conditions and group of people.

Chronic prostatitis (CP) is a chronic inflammation in the prostate with unsatisfactory management. Danggui Beimu Kushen Wan (DBKW) is a classic formula developed 1800 years ago for patients with difficult urination and it has been widely utilized for CP in modern days. However, scientific understanding of DBKW on CP has not been systematically reviewed. First, we searched the Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine for the etiologies and pathogeneses of CP-like symptoms and DBKW and compared their similarities and differences from traditional Chinese medicine and conventional medicine perspectives. Then, we searched 21 electronic databases to identify potential clinical and experimental studies. Characteristics of included studies, ingredients, herb frequency, and possible mechanisms of actions were descriptively summarized. Risk of bias of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool. A total of 290 studies were identified. Six clinical studies, including four RCTs and two case series, and eight experimental studies were included. Clinical studies indicated that DBKW used alone or as an adjunct therapy significantly reduced the CP symptom scores and decreased the expressed prostatic secretions-pH when compared to antibiotics or α-blocker. Most RCTs have high or unclear risk of bias. Experimental studies revealed that DBKW may have effects on anti-inflammation, antibacteria, antioxidation, sex hormone regulation, and immunoregulation. DBKW demonstrated a great potential in the treatment of CP. High-quality RCTs and network pharmacological studies should be considered for future research.