Effects on type 2 diabetes complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis: regiment of insulin, isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol versus the regiment plus Qi-boosting and Yin-nourishing decoction of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Objective: To observe the clinical effect on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) of insulin, isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol (conventional medication) administered together with Qi-boosting and Yin-nourishing decoction derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Methods: A total of 60 patients with T2DM complicated with pulmonary TB were randomly and equally divided into positive control group and treatment group. The control group was treated with Western conventional regiment (WCR): insulin, isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol, whereas the treatment group was given both WCR and Qi-boosting and Yin-nourishing decoction prepared from TCM.
Results: After the treatment, 20 (66.7%) and 11 (36.7%) cases showed sputum bacteria negative conversion in the WCR plus TCM group and WCM group respectively (P < 0.05). A total of 25 (83.3%) and 18 (60%) cases showed improvement in lung lesion in the WCR plus TCM group and WCM group respectively (P < 0.05). Compared with WCR group, fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour postprandial blood glucose levels in the WCR plus TCM group significantly decreased (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively).
Conclusion: Qi-boosting and Yin-nourishing decoction combined with the Western medication showed better curative effect in treating T2DM complicated with pulmonary TB compared with the group using the conventional Western Medicine alone.