Chaihu Longgu Muli Decoction for post-stroke insomnia: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Poststroke insomnia (PSI) is a frequent complication of stroke usually as a comorbidity of poststroke depression and mainly occurs within the first 6 months after stroke.[1] Addressing PSI to improve stroke prognosis is of great value. Herbal medicine like Chaihu Longgu Muli Decoction (CLMD), which is commonly considered to be a good treatment for depression and epilepsy, has the therapeutic potential on PSI; however, insufficient systematic reviews were conducted to testify its efficacy. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to provide reliable evidence of the efficacy and safety of CLMD on PSI and a foundation for further investigation. METHODS: The literature of clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding CLMD for PSI published before June of 2021 will be retrieved in the databases, and 2 investigators will be asked to collect and crosscheck the data independently. For the including studies, the quality evaluation on methodology will be assessed in the light of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Review of Interventions V.5.1.0 as well as the quality of evidence will be evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. Besides, the assessment of heterogeneity and reporting bias, the sensitivity analysis and the subgroup analysis will be conducted. Stata 15 will be applied to analyze the above data. RESULTS: The review will conduct a high-quality synthesis on present evidence of CLMD for PSI. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of the study will indicate whether CLMD is effective and safe for PSI.

Traditional Chinese medicine combined with Moxibustion in the treatment of "long-COVID": A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: From the end of 2019 to now, COVID-19 is still prevalent, which poses a great threat to international public health. With the increasing number of people infected, the number of patients with COVID-19 sequelae is also increasing, but there is no specific drug for COVID-19 sequelae. In China, traditional Chinese medicine combined with acupuncture has been widely used in COVID-19 sequelae, but there is still a lack of evidence-based medicine evaluation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine combined with moxibustion in the treatment of COVID-19 sequelae. METHODS: According to the retrieval strategy, the "long COVID" randomized controlled trial of traditional Chinese medicine combined with moxibustion will be search in eight databases composed of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National knowledge Infrastructure Database, China Biomedical Database and China Science and Technology Journal Database, regardless of publication date or language. The study was screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the Cochrane risk bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the study. Meta-analysis was carried out using RevMan5.3 and STATA12.0 software. Finally, the level of evidence of the results will be evaluated. RESULTS: This study will evaluate whether traditional Chinese medicine combined with moxibustion can effectively treat the symptoms of COVID-19 sequelae. CONCLUSION: This study will provide evidence whether there is benefit of traditional Chinese medicine combined with moxibustion in the treatment of COVID-19 sequelae. At the same time, our research results will provide a reference for clinical decision-making and guiding development in the future.

Acupuncture for dry eye disease after recovery from COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Dry eye disease (DED) is a condition occurring worldwide. Studies have found that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients may have persistent dry eye symptoms for weeks and months after recovery, and the prevalence of dry eye is higher in COVID-19 patients than in people without COVID-19 infection. As one of the common ophthalmic diseases, the clinical application of acupuncture in the treatment of DED is not widely used nowadays. METHODS: According to the retrieval strategies, randomized controlled trials (RCT) on the acupuncture for DED after recovery from COVID-19 were obtained from Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database, Chinese Biomedical Database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical database, The WanFang database. Studies were screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the Cochrane risk bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager (RevMan 5.3) and STATA 14.2 software. Ultimately, the evidentiary grade for the results will be evaluated. RESULTS: The study will provide a high-quality and convincing assessment of the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for DED after recovery from COVID-19 and will be published in peer-reviewed journals. CONCLUSION: Our findings will provide references for future clinical decision and guidance development.

Effect of different acupuncture and moxibustion methods on functional dyspepsia caused by sequelae of COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a group of diseases that cannot be explained after routine clinical examination, and is characterized by postprandial fullness, early satiety, and upper abdominal pain or burning. According to the statistics, FD continues to become one of the high-risk sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), affecting patients' quality of life, increasing psychological burden and increasing economic costs. However, its optimal treatment is still an urgent problem. A large number of studies have shown that acupuncture and moxibustion is effective and safe in the treatment of FD caused by sequelae of COVID-19, which is of research value. Therefore, based on the current literatures, the effectiveness and safety of different acupuncture and moxibustion methods were systematically evaluated to provide possible alternative therapy on FD. METHODS: Studies search for eligible randomized controlled trials that use different acupuncture and moxibustion methods as the sole treatment on FD and their data extraction will be done by 2 researchers. In case of disagreement, a third researcher will be introduced for arbitration. Mean difference or relative risk with fixed or random effect model in terms of 95% confidence interval will be adopted for the data synthesis. To evaluate the risk of bias, the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool will be utilized. The sensitivity or subgroup analysis will also be conducted when meeting high heterogeneity (I2 > 50%). RESULTS: This meta-analysis will provide an authentic synthesis of different acupuncture and moxibustion methods on FD caused by sequelae of COVID-19. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis will evaluate the effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on FD caused by sequelae of COVID-19, providing evidence as to the treatment in these patients.

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of the sequela of olfactory disorders after infection with COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

BACKGROUND: From the end of 2019 to now, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has put enormous strain on the world's health systems. As a characteristic sign of COVID-19 patient, olfactory dysfunction (OD) poses considerable problems for patients. In China, acupuncture has been widely used to treat OD caused by COVID-19, but there is still a lack of evidence-based medical evaluation. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of COVID-19 OD. METHODS: According to the retrieval strategies, randomized controlled trials on the acupuncture for COVID-19 OD were obtained from Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the Chinese Scientific Journal Database and the Wanfang Database, regardless of publication date, or language. Studies were screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the Cochrane risk bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager (RevMan 5.3) and STATA 14.2 software. Ultimately, the evidentiary grade for the results will be evaluated. RESULTS: The results of this meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CONCLUSION: This study will provide up-to-date summary proof for evaluating the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for COVID-19 OD.

[Analysis of prescription regularity of traditional Chinese medicine for colorectal cancer based on data mining].

The tumor prescriptions contained in Dictionary of Tumor Formulas, Compendium of Good Tumor Formulas, Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Ministry of Health Drug Standards for Chinese Medicine Formulas and National Compilation of Standards for Proprietary Chinese Medicines were selected and organized to construct a database for tumor prescriptions, and the data mining techniques were applied to investigate the prescription regularity of colorectal cancer prescriptions. The formula data were extracted after screening in strict accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and were then analyzed with Microsoft Excel 2010 for frequency statistics, Apriori block provided by SPSS Clementine 12.0 software for correlation rule analysis, and arules and arulesViz packages in R 4.0.2 software for correlation rule visualization. In addition, SPSS 18.0 software was used for cluster analysis and factor analysis, in which cluster analysis was performed by Ochiai algorithm with bicategorical variables in systematic clustering method and factor analysis was performed mainly with principal component analysis. A total of 285 prescriptions were included in the statistical analysis, and the frequency statistics showed that 43 herbs had been used more than 16 times. The association rules analysis showed that 26 high-frequency me-dicine pair rules were obtained, and the association rules for those dispelling evil spirits, strengthening the body, resolving stasis, dispelling dampness, etc. were visualized. In the cluster analysis, we generated a dendrogram from which 7 groups of traditional Chinese medicines with homogeneity were extracted. 10 common factors were obtained in the factor analysis. The types of herbal medicines involved in the colorectal cancer prescription included anti-cancer antidotes, strengthening and tonifying medicines, blood-regulating medicines, and expectorant medicines, corresponding to the treatment for eliminating evil spirits, strengthening, resolving stasis, and expectorating dampness. The prescriptions for anti-cancer detoxification were normally based on the pairs composed of Scutellaria barbata-Hedyotis diffusa and Sophora flavescens, Sargentodoxa cuneata, S. barbata, often combined with stasis relieving drug and dampness eliminating drug, reflecting the characteristics of treatment for both toxicity and stasis, dampness and toxicity simultaneously. The prescriptions for strengthening the righteousness and tonifying the deficiency were composed of Astragalus membranaceus and Atractylodes macrocephala mainly, exerting the effect of benefiting Qi, strengthening the spleen and drying dampness, tonifying kidney and essence, tonifying blood and invigorating blood. Meanwhile, anti-cancer detoxification medicines shall be reduced as much as possible. The compatibility of the medicines for the intestinal tract reflected the principle of using the right medicine for the right condition and eliminating evil spirits or strengthening the body, as appropriate.

A Data Mining-Based Analysis of Core Herbs on Different Patterns (Zheng) of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of Chinese prescriptions in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and provide references for the application of herbs and prescriptions. METHODS: Randomized and quasirandomized controlled clinical trials on Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of NSCLC were collected from seven databases to establish a database of prescriptions on NSCLC. Data-mining analyses were performed by RStudio (v4.0.3) software. RESULTS: A total of 970 prescriptions were obtained from 945 included studies, involving 7 syndromes and 428 herbs. The main patterns of NSCLC included qi deficiency pattern, yin deficiency pattern, blood deficiency pattern, kidney deficiency pattern, heat toxin pattern, phlegm-dampness pattern, and blood stasis pattern. High-frequency herbs on NSCLC were Astragali Radix (Huangqi), Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizome (Baizhu), Glycyrrhizae Radix Rhizome (Gancao), Poria (Fuling), Ophiopogonis Radix (Maidong), Hedyotidis Diffusae Herba (Baihuasheshecao), Codonopsis Radix (Dangshen), and Glehniae Radix (Beishashen). The properties of the herbs were mainly cold, warm, and mild. The flavors of the herbs were mainly sweet, bitter, and pungent. The main meridian tropisms were Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, Spleen Meridian of Foot-Taiyin, and Stomach Meridian of Foot-Yangming. CONCLUSION: Applying clearing and tonifying method by targeting the lung and spleen was the most frequently used therapy in the treatment of NSCLC. This study offered a glimpse of unique views of traditional Chinese medicine on NSCLC and may benefit the treatment of NSCLC.

Linggui Zhugan Decoction for peripheral vertigo: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Vertigo is a sense of movement or rotation of the patient's own or an external object. At present, western medicine treatment such as vestibular suppressant medications commonly used in clinical practice are ineffective and have adverse reactions. In traditional Chinese medicine, Linggui Zhugan Decoction (LZD) was used by doctors to warm yang for resolving fluid retention, strengthen the spleen and clear away dampness, with significant effect. Recently, some clinical studies have also shown that LZD has reliable effect in treating peripheral vertigo, but there is no systematic evidence. Therefore, this study aims to objectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of LZD in the treatment of peripheral vertigo. METHODS: Eight electronic databases will be searched from inception to August 2020 by 2 independent researchers, in order to collect qualified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the LZD treatment for peripheral vertigo. The therapeutic effects according to Clinical efficacy will be adopted as the primary outcomes. RevMan V.5.3 software will be used for the data synthesis and the Cochrane's risk of bias assessment tool will be used to assess the risk of bias. RESULTS: This review will conduct a high-quality synthesis on present evidence of LZD for peripheral vertigo. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of the study will indicate whether LZD is an effective treatment for peripheral vertigo by providing updated evidence. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD 42021238817.

Mechanism of Xiaoying Daotan decoction in treating Hashimoto's thyroiditis based on the Notch/Treg/Th17 pathway.

BACKGROUND: The study created mice model of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and induced thyroid inflammatory cell lines, exploring the mechanism of Xiaoying Daotan decoction on HT. METHODS: Divided HT mice models into model group (0.2 mL saline), Western medicine group (0.2 mL levothyroxine sodium tablets), traditional Chinese medicine group (0.2 mL Xiaoyin Daotan prescription), and Notch protein inhibition group (0.2 mL Xiaoyin Daotan prescription). After treatment, serum Notch protein expression and T cell (Treg)/T helper cell 17 (Th17) cytokines levels were detected through Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Use real-time qualitative polymerase chain reaction detected Notch protein expression. Thyroid inflammatory cell lines were induced and divided into 5 groups: blank group, iNotch group (knocking down the Notch protein gene of thyroid inflammatory cells), NC group (Notch protein carrier negative control group), iNotch + DS group and DS group (knocking down the Notch protein gene of thyroid inflammatory cells). The cells were treated with serum containing Xiaoying Daotan decoction. After culture, detected Notch protein expression level and Treg/Th17 cytokine level in each group. RESULTS: For the animal experiment, the serum Notch protein expression, the serum levels of key activating proteins Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3), RAR-related orphan receptor gamma T (RORγt), and interleukin (IL)-22 of Th17 cells of mice in the model group was significantly higher than that of the other groups. Compared with the model group and Western medicine group, the serum transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) level of the mice in the traditional Chinese medicine group and the Notch protein inhibition group was significantly higher. All the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). For the cell experiment, the ß-actin value of Notch protein in thyroid inflammatory cell genes was significantly downregulated and the key activation protein of Treg was significantly upregulated in iNotch + DS group and DS group compared with the other 3 groups. Levels of Th17 key activating proteins STAT3, IL-17, and IL-22 in the iNotch group, iNotch + DS group, and DS group were lower than those of the blank group and NC group, both with statistically significant difference (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The mechanism of Xiaoying Daotan decoction on HT could be related to the immune inflammatory response of the Treg/Th17 cell axis mediated by the Notch protein pathway.