Abstract
Background
Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread around the world since its outbreak, and there is no ascertained effective drug up to now. Lianhua Qingwen (LHQW) has been widely used in China and overseas Chinese, which had some advantages in the treatment of COVID-19.
Objective
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of LHQW for COVID-19 by conducting a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Methods
A comprehensive literature search was conducted in 12 electronic databases from their establishment to October 30, 2021. Note Express 3.2.0 was used for screening of trials, and the data was independently extracted in duplicate by 2 researchers. The risk of bias of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and retrospective studies were assessed by using the Cochrane collaboration tool and Newcastle Ottawa Scale, respectively, followed by data analysis using RevMan 5.3. The RCTs or retrospective studies to treat COVID-19 using LHQW were included. The intervention measures in the experimental group were LHQW alone or combined with chemical drugs (LCWC), and that in the control group were chemical drugs (CDs). Outcome measures included computed tomography (CT) recovery rate, disappearance rates of primary (fever, cough, fatigue), respiratory, gastrointestinal and other symptoms, exacerbation rate and adverse reaction. Subgroup analysis was conducted according to whether LHQW was combined with CDs and the different treatment methods in the control group.
Results
Nine trials with 1,152 participants with COVID-19 were included. The CT recovery rates of LHQW and LCWC were 1.36 and 1.32 times of CDs, respectively (P<0.05). Compared with CDs, LCWC remarkably increased the disappearance rates of fever, cough, fatigue, expectoration, shortness of breath, and muscle soreness (P<0.05). LHQW also obviously decreased the exacerbation rate, which was 0.45 times of CDs alone (P<0.05). There was no obvious difference between LCWC and CDs in adverse reaction (P>0.05).
Conclusions
LHQW was more suitable for treating COVID-19 patients with obvious expectoration, shortness of breath and muscle soreness. LHQW had advantages in treating COVID-19 with no obvious exacerbation. (PROSPERO No. CRD42021235937)
Electronic Supplementary Material
Supplementary material (Appendixes 1–5) is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s11655-022-3578-8.
Keywords: Lianhua Qingwen, COVID-19, 2019-nCoV, systematic review, meta-analysis, Chinese medicine
Electronic supplementary material
Appendix 1. PRISMA Flow Diagram of Literature Selection
Supplementary material, approximately 126 KB.
Author Contributions
Sun XH, Zhang Sh and Tang YP were responsible for the conception and design of the study; Sun XH, Zhang Sh, Yang Z, Chen ZL, Yue SJ and Zhang S conducted the statistical analysis, drew the tables and pictures, and drafted the manuscript; Sun XH, Zhang Sh and Chen ZL retrieved the database, screened the trials, extracted the data, evaluated the methodological quality. All authors critically revised the manuscript and approved the fi nal version.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to declare.
Footnotes
Supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi (No. 2019ZDLSF04-05), Subject Innovation Team of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine (No. 2019-YL10)
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Supplementary Materials
Appendix 1. PRISMA Flow Diagram of Literature Selection
Supplementary material, approximately 126 KB.