Effects of Lianhuaqingwen Capsules in adults with mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease 2019: an international, multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: In a randomized trial, Lianhuaqingwen (LHQW) capsule was effective for accelerating symptom recovery among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the lack of blinding and limited sample sizes decreased the level of clinical evidence. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of LHQW capsule in adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind randomized controlled trial in adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 (17 sites from China, Thailand, Philippine and Vietnam). Patients received standard-of-care alone or plus LHQW capsules (4 capsules, thrice daily) for 14 days. The primary endpoint was the median time to sustained clinical improvement or resolution of nine major symptoms. RESULTS: The full-analysis set consisted of 410 patients in LHQW capsules and 405 in placebo group. LHQW significantly shortened the primary endpoint in the full-analysis set (4.0 vs. 6.7 days, hazards ratio: 1.63, 95% confidence interval: 1.39-1.90). LHQW capsules shortened the median time to sustained clinical improvement or resolution of stuffy or runny nose (2.8 vs. 3.7 days), sore throat (2.0 vs. 2.6 days), cough (3.2 vs. 4.9 days), feeling hot or feverish (1.0 vs. 1.3 days), low energy or tiredness (1.3 vs. 1.9 days), and myalgia (1.5 vs. 2.0 days). The duration to sustained clinical improvement or resolution of shortness of breath, headache, and chills or shivering did not differ significantly between the two groups. Safety was comparable between the two groups. No serious adverse events were reported. INTERPRETATION: LHQW capsules promote recovery of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 via accelerating symptom resolution and were well tolerated. Trial registration ChiCTR2200056727 .

[Proteomic study on effect of tangcao pill on microsome CYP450].

Tangcao pill is commonly applied in adjuvant and even alternative therapy for patients with AIDS. However, the herb contains complex ingredients, but with unknown effect against anti-HIV drug and unknown function. Because CYP450 emzyme is the main metabolic enzymes of the drug, it is of important significance to study the regulation of CYP450 enzymes before and after the combined administration of Tangcao pill and EFV. Proteomics, due to its high throughout and high sensitivity, has been widely applied in CYP450 enzyme study. In this paper, liver microsomes were separated through differential centrifugation. Their proteins were separated through SDS-PAGE. The three protein bands that CYP450 enzymes were located were cut and identified by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Totally 16 CYP450 isoenzymes were identified. Furthermore, in order to make a quantitative analysis on the effect of tang herb on CYP450 emzyme, the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) technology based on MS was adopted. The CYP2C11 was selected based on the results of the mass spectrum identification of proteins. The characteristic polypeptides were obtained through searching Expasy blast database. The m/z of the fragment ions was less than 800. In the paper, the m/z of ion pairs of CYP2C11 were 711.5/232.1, 711.5/319.2, 711.5/466.2 and 711.5/595.3, and the m/z of ESAT-6 (internal standard, IS) were 735.5/215.3, 735.5/389.3, 735.5/460.3 and 735.5/524.3. The relative peak (analyte/IS) area was adopted for the relative quantitative analysis. Compared with the EFV single administration group, the EFV and Tangcao pill combined administration group showed a 1.6-fold increase in CYP2C11. The results of the paper indicated that Tangcao pill may affect drug metabolism by regulating metabolic enzymes such as CYP2C11, but the specific mechanism still unknown.

[Effect of moxibustion on immunological function in the patient of AIDS of spleen-kidney yang-deficiency].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of moxibustion on AIDS patients of spleen-kidney yang-deficiency. METHODS: Sixty-six cases of AIDS were divided into a treatment group and a control group, 33 cases in each group. All of the patients were treated with HAART, with moxibustion at Tianshu (ST 25), Shenque (CV 8), Zhongwan (CV 12), Guanyuan (CV 4) added in the treatment group for 3 months. Clinical symptoms and cell immunity were recorded before and after treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, the effective rate was 90.9% in the treatment group, which was better than 66.7% in the control group (P < 0.05). The improvement of the score for clinical symptoms in the treatment group was superior to that in the control group (P < 0.01). After treatment, the CD4 lymphocyte counts increased in the two groups, with no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Additionally, increase of total lymphocyte count in the treatment group was superior to that in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Moxibustion can increase the therapeutic effect of HAART on AIDS patients and increase the total lymphocyte count.