scholarly journals The Efficacy and Mechanism of Chinese Herbal Medicines in Lowering Serum Uric Acid Levels: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqian Chen ◽  
Zhengmao Luo ◽  
Ming Wang ◽  
Jingru Cheng ◽  
Fei Li ◽  
...  

Background. Chinese herbal medicines are widely used to lower serum uric acid levels. However, no systemic review summarizes and evaluates their efficacies and the underlying mechanisms of action. Objectives. To evaluate the clinical and experimental evidences for the effectiveness and the potential mechanism of Chinese herbal medicines in lowering serum uric acid levels. Methods. Four electronic databases PubMed, Wed of Science, the Cochrane Library and Embase were used to search for Chinese herbal medicines for their effects in lowering serum uric acid levels, dated from 1 January 2009 to 19 August 2020. For clinical trials, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included; and for experimental studies, original articles were included. The methodological quality of RCTs was assessed according to the Cochrane criteria. For clinical trials, a meta-analysis of continuous variables was used to obtain pooled effects. For experimental studies, lists were used to summarize and integrate the mechanisms involved. Results. A total of 10 clinical trials and 184 experimental studies were included. Current data showed that Chinese herbal medicines have promising clinical efficacies in patients with elevated serum uric acid levels (SMD: −1.65, 95% CI: −3.09 to −0.22; p = 0.024). There was no significant difference in serum uric acid levels between Chinese herbal medicine treatments and Western medicine treatments (SMD: −0.13, 95% CI: −0.99 to 0.74; p = 0.772). Experimental studies revealed that the mechanistic signaling pathways involved in the serum uric acid lowering effects include uric acid synthesis, uric acid transport, inflammation, renal fibrosis and oxidative stress. Conclusions. The clinical studies indicate that Chinese herbal medicines lower serum uric acid levels. Further studies with sophisticated research design can further demonstrate the efficacy and safety of these Chinese herbal medicines in lowering serum uric acid levels and reveal a comprehensive picture of the underlying mechanisms of action.

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 356
Author(s):  
Miguel Bigotte Vieira ◽  
Rute Baeta Baptista ◽  
João Costa ◽  
António Vaz-Carneiro

Arterial hypertension is a public health problem that affects approximately 25% of the world’s adult population. The association between hypertension and hyperuricemia has been shown on epidemiological and experimental studies. However, it is unclear whether lowering serum uric acid might lower blood pressure. This Cochrane systematic review - a revised edition of a previously published one - intended as primary objective to evaluate the effect of hypouricemic drugs in patients with primary hypertension or prehypertension. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hypouricemic drugs. A systematic search until February 2016 on controlled, randomized or quasi-randomized trials comparing the effect of hypouricemic drug versus placebo in hypertensive or prehypertensive patients was performed on the following databases: The Cochrane Hypertension Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline, Embase, The World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, e ClinicalTrials.gov. LILACS database up to March 2016 was also searched and the authors of relevant studies were contacted. There were 349 identified papers, 21 were preselected and three randomized clinical trials (211 patients) were included in the qualitative analysis and in the meta-analysis. Two of the trials were conducted exclusively on adolescents. The authors conclude that hypouricemic drugs are not effective in lowering blood pressure in patients with hyperuricemia and primary prehypertension or hypertension. However, this strategy might be more effective in the specific population of adolescents with prehypertension or mild primary hypertension recently diagnosed. Hypouricemic drugs effectively reduce serum uric acid level and withdrawals of therapy due to adverse effects were not superior in the treated group, comparing to placebo; however, one patient withdrew due to a severe cutaneous reaction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingming Zhao ◽  
Yi Yu ◽  
Rumeng Wang ◽  
Meiying Chang ◽  
Sijia Ma ◽  
...  

As the current treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is limited, it is necessary to seek more effective and safer treatment methods, such as Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs). In order to clarify the modern theoretical basis and molecular mechanisms of CHMs, we reviewed the knowledge based on publications in peer-reviewed English-language journals, focusing on the anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, anti-apoptotic, autophagy-mediated and antifibrotic effects of CHMs commonly used in kidney disease. We also discussed recently published clinical trials and meta-analyses in this field. Based on recent studies regarding the mechanisms of kidney disease in vivo and in vitro, CHMs have anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, anti-apoptotic, autophagy-mediated, and antifibrotic effects. Several well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses demonstrated that the use of CHMs as an adjuvant to conventional medicines may benefit patients with CKD. Unknown active ingredients, low quality and small sample sizes of some clinical trials, and the safety of CHMs have restricted the development of CHMs. CHMs is a potential method in the treatment of CKD. Further study on the mechanism and well-conducted RCTs are urgently needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CHMs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 153473541986169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Hsuan Hsiao ◽  
Chiao-Wen Lin ◽  
Po-Hui Wang ◽  
Min-Chien Hsin ◽  
Shun-Fa Yang

Cervical cancer is a global health issue and places a considerable economic and medical burden on society. Thus, a concerted effort to improve the treatment of cervical cancer is warranted. Although several treatment options are currently available for treating patients with cervical cancer, such as chemoradiation and neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, more aggressive systemic therapies and newer therapeutic agents are under investigation. Medicinal herbs have long been used to treat diseases. In this review, we summarize studies analyzing the antitumor effects and underlying mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicines, including the effects of crude extracts and compounds in vitro or in animal models for inducing apoptosis and inhibiting invasion or metastasis. Chinese herbal medicines with therapeutic targeting, such as those that interfere with tumor growth and progression in cervical cancer, have been widely investigated. To apply Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of cervical cancer, adequate clinical studies are required to confirm its clinical safety and efficiency. Further investigations focused on the purification, pharmacokinetics, and identification of compounds from Chinese herbal medicines in cervical cancer treatment are necessary to achieve the aforementioned treatment goals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (20) ◽  
pp. 11078
Author(s):  
Chen Cheng ◽  
Xuan Yu

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection; the pathophysiology of sepsis is complex. The incidence of sepsis is steadily increasing, with worldwide mortality ranging between 30% and 50%. Current treatment approaches mainly rely on the timely and appropriate administration of antimicrobials and supportive therapies, but the search for pharmacotherapies modulating the host response has been unsuccessful. Chinese herbal medicines, i.e., Chinese patent medicines, Chinese herbal prescriptions, and single Chinese herbs, play an important role in the treatment of sepsis through multicomponent, multipathway, and multitargeting abilities and have been officially recommended for the management of COVID-19. Chinese herbal medicines have therapeutic actions promising for the treatment of sepsis; basic scientific research on these medicines is increasing. However, the material bases of most Chinese herbal medicines and their underlying mechanisms of action have not yet been fully elucidated. This review summarizes the current studies of Chinese herbal medicines used for the treatment of sepsis in terms of clinical efficacy and safety, pharmacological activity, phytochemistry, bioactive constituents, mechanisms of action, and pharmacokinetics, to provide an important foundation for clarifying the pathogenesis of sepsis and developing novel antisepsis drugs based on Chinese herbal medicines.


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