Chinese herbal medicine presents beneficial effects in controlling disease activity and lowering glucocorticoid dosage in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

2021 Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Chinese Herbal Medicine for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trials Wang Y, Han M, Pedigo CE, Xie Z, Wang W, Liu J

Systematic Review Chinese Herbal Medicine Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

An extensive search of seven electronic databases was conducted for all randomized controlled trials focusing on Chinese herbal medicine treating systemic lupus erythematosus. These trials could consist of Chinese herbal medicine used either independently or as an adjunct to conventional treatments, and trials up until August 16, 2020, were considered. Data was gathered with a particular focus on measurement outcomes such as the lupus disease activity index, traditional chinese medicine symptom scores, glucocorticoids dosage, main serological testing, and the occurrence of adverse events. The collected data was pooled and analyzed using Review Manager 5.3 software.

The compiled data was resulted from thirteen randomized controlled trials with a total of 856 participants. The analyzed data revealed that compared to placebos, Chinese herbal medicine showed significant indications of reducing the lupus disease activity index and traditional Chinese medicine symptom scores. It also underscored a lowered dosage of glucocorticoids, decreased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and increased levels of serum complement C4. No significant differences were noticed between Chinese herbal medicine and placebos when considering adverse events.

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