Table 1.
Characteristics of studies.
| Study | EG | CG | Interventions | Course | Main outcome | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | n | N | n | EG | CG | |||
| Feng and Zhang 2008 [20] | 42 | 30 | 36 | 20 | TGP + MTX | MTX | 3 months | A + B + D + E |
| He 2008 [21] | 26 | 19 | 22 | 9 | TGP + HCQ | HCQ | 3 months | A + B + C + D + E |
| Cai 2011 [22] | 30 | 25 | 30 | 17 | TGP + MTX | MTX | 6 months | A + B + C + D |
| Yin 2011 [23] | 42 | 32 | 39 | 16 | TGP + HCQ | HCQ | 3 months | A + B + C + D |
| Lin et al. 2011 [24] | 34 | 25 | 32 | 14 | TGP + HCQ | HCQ | 24 weeks | A + B + C + D |
| H. Zhao and F.-T. Zhao 2013 [25] | 28 | 26 | 26 | 24 | TGP + HCQ | HCQ | 6 months | A + C + D |
| Liu and Deng 2016 [26] | 28 | 24 | 28 | 16 | TGP + MTX | MTX | 6 months | A + B + C + D |
Note. EG: experimental group, CG: control group, N: total cases, n: effective cases, TGP: total glucosides of paeony, HCQ: hydroxychloroquine, MTX: methotrexate, A: effective rate, B: adverse reaction, C: clinical symptoms and signs, D: laboratory indices, E: security indices.