Clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

<h4>Background</h4>Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation (CH) combined with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is widely used for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in China, but there is a lack of literature to evaluate its efficacy and clinical value.<h4>Purpos...

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Main Authors: Qinglu Pang, Guodong Li, Fang Cao, Haoge Liu, Wan Wei, Yang Jiao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265006&type=printable
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author Qinglu Pang
Guodong Li
Fang Cao
Haoge Liu
Wan Wei
Yang Jiao
author_facet Qinglu Pang
Guodong Li
Fang Cao
Haoge Liu
Wan Wei
Yang Jiao
author_sort Qinglu Pang
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation (CH) combined with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is widely used for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in China, but there is a lack of literature to evaluate its efficacy and clinical value.<h4>Purpose</h4>This study compared CH + NAC with other treatments by network meta-analysis to clarify its clinical value.<h4>Methods</h4>Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Data, VIP Database, and China Biology Medicine were searched. Outcomes included lung function (DLCO (%), VC (%), FVC (%), FVC (L)), 6-min walking distance (6MWD), score of St George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ), blood gas analysis (PaO2, PaCO2). The data were analyzed by Review Manager 5.4, Stata 12.0 and ADDIS 1.16.5.<h4>Results</h4>23 studies including 1390 patients (702 in intervention group and 688 in control group) were collected to compare 8 outcome indicators among different treatments involving CH, CH+NAC, CH+PFD, NAC, PFD and PFD+NAC on IPF. Network meta-analysis showed that CH was better than NAC in terms of DLCO (%) (MD = 5.14, 95%CI: 1.01 to 8.68) and 6MWD (MD = 49.17, 95%CI: 25.97 to 71.36) as well as PFD + NAC was better than NAC in terms of FVC (L) (MD = -0.56, 95%CI: -0.83 to -0.31). In rankings results, CH + NAC is the best in terms of FVC (%), SGRQ, PaO2 and PaCO2; CH is the best in terms of DLCO (%), VC (%) and 6MWD; CH + PFD is the best in terms of FVC (L).<h4>Conclusion</h4>CH related treatments may have advantages in the treatment of IPF and CH + NAC may have clinical application value. However, limited by the quality and quantity of researches included, more rational and scientific randomized controlled trials containing large sample sizes need to be conducted to further verify our conclusions.
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spelling doaj-art-dcaae219a32b48c7997265c313d75c6a2025-08-20T02:36:18ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01173e026500610.1371/journal.pone.0265006Clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Qinglu PangGuodong LiFang CaoHaoge LiuWan WeiYang Jiao<h4>Background</h4>Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation (CH) combined with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is widely used for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in China, but there is a lack of literature to evaluate its efficacy and clinical value.<h4>Purpose</h4>This study compared CH + NAC with other treatments by network meta-analysis to clarify its clinical value.<h4>Methods</h4>Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Data, VIP Database, and China Biology Medicine were searched. Outcomes included lung function (DLCO (%), VC (%), FVC (%), FVC (L)), 6-min walking distance (6MWD), score of St George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ), blood gas analysis (PaO2, PaCO2). The data were analyzed by Review Manager 5.4, Stata 12.0 and ADDIS 1.16.5.<h4>Results</h4>23 studies including 1390 patients (702 in intervention group and 688 in control group) were collected to compare 8 outcome indicators among different treatments involving CH, CH+NAC, CH+PFD, NAC, PFD and PFD+NAC on IPF. Network meta-analysis showed that CH was better than NAC in terms of DLCO (%) (MD = 5.14, 95%CI: 1.01 to 8.68) and 6MWD (MD = 49.17, 95%CI: 25.97 to 71.36) as well as PFD + NAC was better than NAC in terms of FVC (L) (MD = -0.56, 95%CI: -0.83 to -0.31). In rankings results, CH + NAC is the best in terms of FVC (%), SGRQ, PaO2 and PaCO2; CH is the best in terms of DLCO (%), VC (%) and 6MWD; CH + PFD is the best in terms of FVC (L).<h4>Conclusion</h4>CH related treatments may have advantages in the treatment of IPF and CH + NAC may have clinical application value. However, limited by the quality and quantity of researches included, more rational and scientific randomized controlled trials containing large sample sizes need to be conducted to further verify our conclusions.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265006&type=printable
spellingShingle Qinglu Pang
Guodong Li
Fang Cao
Haoge Liu
Wan Wei
Yang Jiao
Clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
PLoS ONE
title Clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
title_full Clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
title_fullStr Clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
title_full_unstemmed Clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
title_short Clinical efficacy of Chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
title_sort clinical efficacy of chinese herbs for supplementing qi and activating blood circulation combined with n acetylcysteine in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis a systematic review and network meta analysis
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265006&type=printable
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