title: Ginkgo biloba extract for essential hypertension: a systemic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE), a traditional natural herbal product, is often used in the treatment of essential hypertension (EH) as complementary therapy in China and European countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To critically assess the current clinical evidence of efficacy and safety of GBE for EH.
  
  
  METHODS
  7 electronic databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, VIP, CBM, Wanfang data, and CNKI) were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of GBE for EH. Methodological quality was assessed independently using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 9 RCTs with 1012 hypertensive patients were identified and reviewed. Most RCTs were of high risk of bias with flawed study design and poor methodological quality. 6 trials demonstrated potential positive effect of GBE as complementary therapy on BP reduction when compared with antihypertensive drug therapy; however, it was not associated with a statistically significant effect on both SBP and DBP reduction in 3 other trials. Despite the positive findings, there were so many methodological limitations and significant clinical heterogeneity. Most of the trials did not report adverse effects, and the safety of GBE is still uncertain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No confirmative conclusions on the efficacy and safety of GBE for EH could be drawn. More rigorous trials are warranted to support their clinical use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China. Electronic address: xiongxingjiangtcm@163.com.
authors.forename: X J
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China.
authors.forename: X C
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, ON L8S 4L8, Canada.
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Bio-organic and Natural Products Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA.
authors.forename: X K
authors.initials: XK
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology; D000075222:Essential Hypertension; D020441:Ginkgo biloba / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy; D008517:Phytotherapy; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D010946:Plants, Medicinal
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal
keywords: Essential hypertension; Ginkgo biloba extract; RCT; Systemic review