title: Chaihu-Shugan-San, an oriental herbal preparation, for the treatment of chronic gastritis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic gastritis is a very common disease of the digestive tract. Although herbal preparation Chaihu-Shugan-San (CSS) has been widely used as an alternative treatment for chronic gastritis in East Asia, its effectiveness is not verified. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the effectiveness of CSS in treating various types of chronic gastritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of pertinent literature via Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, Wanfang Data, Vip Information and the Cochrane Library search using the keywords "Chaihushugan" or "Chaihu Shugan" or "Chai Hu Shu Gan" or "Chaihu Shu Gan". Twenty-one trials were identified including 2572 patients (1384 in CSS group and 1188 in chemotherapy group). Each trial was independently reviewed by two assessors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The risk ratios of bile reflux gastritis, chronic superficial gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis, and chronic erosive gastritis in the CSS-treated and chemotherapy groups were 1.30, 1.20, 1.24, and 1.48, respectively. CSS had more therapeutic effect in various types of chronic gastritis patients for improving clinical response compared with the chemotherapy group. Of the 21 trials administrating CSS to patients, no adverse event was reported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CSS was more effective compared to chemotherapy in the treatment of chronic gastritis and no serious side-effects were identified. However, the evidence is insufficient because of the low methodological quality of the included trials. More full-scale, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials are recommended to further evaluate the therapeutic benefit of CSS.
authors: Regenerative Medicine Research Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors: Feng
authors: F
authors: Qin
authors: Jun-Yang
authors: JY
authors: Liu
authors: Jiu-Hong
authors: JH
authors: Yuan
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005756:Gastritis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010936:Plant Extracts; C497000:chaihu-shugan-san