Impact of Chinese herbal medicine on sarcopenia in enhancing muscle mass, strength, and function: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Sarcopenia has become important to the public health with the increase in the aging population in society. However, the therapeutic effects of conventional approaches, including pharmacotherapy, exercise, and nutritional intervention, are far from satisfactory. Chinese herbal medicine is a new treatment format with interesting possibilities in sarcopenia has been widely practiced. The study aims to explore the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine in sarcopenia. We comprehensively searched the following electronic databases: Medline, EMBASE, APA PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, and Chinese database from the establishment of the database to December 2022 (no language restrictions). Randomized controlled clinical studies on the use of Chinese herbal medicine in sarcopenia were selected in compliance with PRISMA guidelines. Review Manager and Stata were used for statistical analysis and the mean difference and standardized mean difference were adopted. Of 277 identified studies, 17 were eligible and included in our analysis (N = 1440 participants). The results showed that Chinese herbal medicine can improve total efficiency (RR = 1.29, 95% CI [1.21, 1.36], p < 0.00001) in sarcopenia and enhance muscle mass (SMD = 1.02, 95% CI [0.55, 1.50], p < 0.0001), and muscle strength measured by grip strength (SMD = 0.66, 95% CI [0.36, 0.96], p < 0.0001), measured by 60°/s knee extension peak TQ (MD = 5.63, 95% CI [-0.30, 11.57], p = 0.06) and muscle function measured by 6-meter walking speed (SMD = 1.34, 95% CI [0.60, 2.08], p = 0.0004), measured by the short physical performance battery of 1.50%, 95% CI (1.05, 1.95), measured by the EuroQoL 5-dimension of (SMD = 0.27, 95% CI [-0.10, 0.65], p = 0.16), suggesting that Chinese herbal medicine alone or combined with conventional treatment has ameliorating effect on sarcopenia. Chinese herbal medicine is a potential therapeutic strategy in sarcopenia. The funnel plot and Egger's test indicated publication bias. To confirm our conclusions, further high-quality studies should be conducted.

Safety and efficacy of traditional Chinese manual therapy for cervicogenic dizziness: study protocol for a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial.

Background: Cervicogenic dizziness is a clinical syndrome characterized by neck pain and dizziness, which has a rising incidence in recent years. In China, manual therapy has been widely used in the treatment of cervicogenic dizziness, but there is no high-quality medical evidence to support its effectiveness and safety. The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of Shi's manual therapy (SMT) on the treatment of cervicogenic dizziness. Methods: A multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) will perform on 106 patients (18≤ages≤65) who meet the diagnostic criteria of cervicogenic dizziness. Patients will be randomly allocated to the intervention group and the control group at a ratio of 1:1. Participants in the control group will be treated with Merislon (Betahistine Mesilate Tablets). Participants in the intervention group will be treated with SMT. The primary outcome is the response rate at week 2, which is defined as the proportion of patients who reduce their disability level measured by the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) score relative to baseline. Key secondary outcomes include DHI scores at weeks 1, 2, and 6 and changes from baseline, time to disappearance of dizziness symptoms, and recurrence rate of dizziness symptoms. Safety will be assessed by adverse events, physical examination and vital signs. Discussion: This trial aims to provide high-quality evidence-based medical data to demonstrate that SMT can reduce dizziness in patients with cervicogenic dizziness effectively and safely. Trial registration: Clinical Trial Registration Center NCT05604937. Registered on Nov 3, 2022. Protocol version: 1.0, November 20, 2022.

A bibliometric analysis of inflammation in sarcopenia from 2007 to 2022.

OBJECTIVE: In recent years, the impact of inflammation regulation on the progression of sarcopenia has garnered significant attention in research. However, there has been a lack of bibliometric analysis on the literature pertaining to inflammation in sarcopenia. This study was designed for the purpose of exploring the current research trends in this field as well as general situations and hot spots through bibliometric analysis. METHODS: Searches were performed on the Web of Science Core Collection for articles related to inflammation in sarcopenia from 2007 to 2022, and selected in compliance with PRISMA guidelines. A variety of data were analyzed and visualized using VOSviewer and CiteSpace, including countries, institutions, authors, keywords, journals, and publications. RESULTS: 1833 articles were obtained in the last 16 years in all. The number of publications and citations increased from 2007 to 2022, with a notable rise occurring after 2016. Based on the results, the United States, the University of Melbourne, Nutrients, and Marzetti Emanuele were the most productive countries, institutions, journals, and authors, respectively. The primary keywords were oxidative stress and insulin resistance, and the burst detection analysis of keywords found that there is a possibility that future research will focus on "Inflammatory Bowel Disease". CONCLUSION: This is the first bibliometric analysis of inflammation in sarcopenia. The interaction between oxidative stress, insulin resistance and inflammation in sarcopenia is regarded as the current research priorities. As sarcopenia becomes more prevalent, a focus will be placed on determining the molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets for regulating inflammation to intervene in sarcopenia.