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. 2022 Mar 29;2022(3):CD010893. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD010893.pub4

Amaryan 2003.

Study characteristics
Methods Single‐centre, parallel RCT
Location: Armenia
Conducted from January 2001 to January 2002
Participants 24 people with FMF, diagnosed according to the Tel‐Hashomer criteria, without prior colchicine therapy
14 participants randomized to ImmunoGuard and 10 to placebo
Age: 3–15 years
Gender: 10 girls, 14 boys
Interventions Intervention: ImmunoGuard (containing Andrographolide, Eleuteroside E, Schisandrins and Glycyrrhizin) 4 tablets orally, 3 times daily for 1 month
Control: placebo (containing lactose 170 mg, calcium hydrophosphate, potato starch, microcrystalline cellulose, magnesium stearate, silicagel) 4 tablets orally, 3 times daily for 1 month
Outcomes
  1. Acute‐phase response, including: ESR, WBC count, CRP

  2. Clinical assessment scores (combined score for duration, frequency and severity of attacks)

  3. Participants' self‐assessment scores (self‐evaluation with health diary – before and after treatment – of the severity of symptoms, mainly abdominal, chest pains, temperature, arthritis, myalgia, erysipelas‐like erythema)

  4. Adverse events


All outcomes measured at 1 month
Notes  
Risk of bias
Bias Authors' judgement Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias) Low risk Using simple randomization procedure.
Quote: "Each jar of tablets was given a sequential number (1, 2, 3…) with the code concealed to the investigator. The sequential numbers were matched with the order of arrival of the participants."
Allocation concealment (selection bias) Low risk Quote: "Each jar was given a sequential number (1, 2, 3…) with the code concealed to the investigator. The sequential numbers were matched with the order of arrival of the participants."
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes Low risk Quote: "The current study is a double blind placebo‐controlled trial."
"Placebo tablets were organoleptically and visually identical to the verum ImmunoGuard."
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes Low risk Stated as double‐blind, but we do not know whether outcome assessment was blinded. The review's secondary outcome of acute‐phase response was not influenced by lack of blinding.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes Low risk Quote: "Of the 24 patients who completed the clinical trial, 23 patients had complete laboratory results." 
Comment: 1 (< 5%) participant in the control group lost to follow‐up.
Selective reporting (reporting bias) Low risk Protocol could not be reviewed; however, comparison of methods section and results section indicated all outcome measurements were reported.
Other bias Low risk No other source of bias identified.