Acupoint Herbal Patching for Long-Term Immune Function in Children with Recurrent Respiratory-Tract Infections: A Systematic Review of Real-World Data.
Med Acupunct
; 33(2): 124-136, 2021 Apr 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33912269
ABSTRACT
Objective:
Acupoint herbal patching (AHP) has been used for the prevention and treatment of recurrent respiratory-tract infections (RRTIs) in children. some studies have suggested relevance to immune function as AHP's mechanism. This study was conducted to evaluate the long-term effects of AHP on immune function in pediatric patients with RRTIs based on real-world data from more than 1-year of follow-up. Materials andMethods:
Eleven English-, Korean-, and Chinese-language databases were searched comprehensively up to January 2020. Real-world clinical data assessing AHP for children with RRTI and reporting long-term immune function-related biomarkers as outcomes were included. Descriptive analyses of the details of the participants, interventions, and outcomes were conducted. The risk of bias was assessed, using the ROBINS-I [Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies-of Interventions] tool.Results:
Four observational studies with 399 pediatric participants were included. Two studies reported salivary secretory immunoglobulin (Ig) A (sIgA) as an immune function-related biomarker and 2 reported serum levels of IgA, IgG, and IgM. sIgA levels showed inconsistent results at 1 year after AHP. However, IgA, IgG, and IgM levels were increased significantly at both 1 and 2 years after AHP. The frequency and duration of respiratory infections were also reduced significantly after AHP. Most studies had high risks of bias, especially lack of consideration of confounding factors.Conclusions:
Current evidence suggested that AHP might be connected to immune function-related biomarker levels and symptoms in pediatric patients with RRTIs in the long-term. Further well-designed, large-size, long-term registries are needed to investigate the effects of AHP on immune function in pediatric patients with RRTIs.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Observational_studies
/
Systematic_reviews
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Med Acupunct
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article