[Clinical study on treatment of pulmonary interstitial fibrosis with ginkgo extract].
OBJECTIVE
To observe the effect of ginkgo extract on pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.


METHODS
Forty-five patients with pulmonary interstitial fibrosis were randomly divided into two groups, the treated group (n = 30) received ginkgo biloba extract 1 g, three times a day; the control group received prednisone 30 mg, once a day, the therapeutic course for both groups was 3 months. Changes of clinical symptoms, pulmonary function, arterial partial pressure of oxygen, computerized tomography (CT), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-alpha) in the two groups were observed before and after treatment.


RESULTS
The efficacy of treatment in the two groups showed insignificant difference, clinical symptoms, pulmonary function, arterial partial pressure of oxygen were improved after treatment (P < 0.05), and the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha significantly decreased after treatment as compared with those before treatment in the two groups. The occurrence of pulmonary infection was less in the treated group than that in the control group (P <0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Ginkgo is effective in treating pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.
He
Ming
M
Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing.
Zhang
Xiao-mei
XM
Yuan
Hui-qing
HQ
D000368:Aged; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D020441:Ginkgo biloba; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha