Chinese Herbs for Treatment of Myasthenia Gravis：A Meta-analysis of Randomized Control Trials / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

ABSTRACT

This study was aimed to assess the clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for myasthenia gravis. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on Chinese medicine treatment of myasthenia gravis were systemically searched from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Weipu Database, PubMed and Cochrane Library. The information was recorded and the methodological quality of the included trials was assessed by two reviewers independently. The RevMan 5.2 software was used in the meta-analysis. The results showed that 58 RCTs involving 4 773 patients were included. The quality of included Chinese literatures was generally not high. There were four high-quality literatures; and the rest were low-quality literature. The results of meta-analysis showed that compared with the effective rate of the western medicaltreatment group, there was no statistical difference between the Chinese medicine compound and the western medical treatment [RR = 1.15, 95%CI (0.94, 1.41)]. There was statistical difference between the western medical treatment plus the Chinese medicine compound group and the western medical treatment [RR = 1.10, 95%CI (1.03, 1.18)]. There was statistical difference between the western medical treatment plus the Chinese patent medicine group and the western medical treatment [RR = 1.17, 95%CI (1.08, 1.28)]. Compared with the western medical treatment group, the incidence of adverse reaction in the Chinese medicine compound plus the western medical treatment group was decreased obviously (P < 0.05). It was concluded that the current limited evidence showed that only using Chinese medicine had the similar clinical efficacy in the treatment of myasthenia gravis as western medicine. However, Chinese herbs combined with western medicine in the treatment of myasthenia gravis had better effects compared to western medicine. It can also reduce the side effects of western medicine. Especially astragalus was the most widely used herb in the Chinese medicine group. However, large-sample and high-quality clinical trials were required for further evidence.