title: Traditional Chinese medicine compound ShengJinRunZaoYangXue granules for treatment of primary Sjögren's syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traditional Chinese medical treatment of primary Sjögren's syndrome has advantages over Western medicine in terms of fewer side effects and improved patient conditions. This study was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of the efficacy and safety of ShengJinRunZaoYangXue granules for the treatment of primary Sjögren's syndrome, including the symptoms of dry mouth and dry eye.
  
  
  METHODS
  We undertook a 6-week, double-blind, randomized trial involving 240 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome at five centers in East China. A computer-generated randomization schedule assigned patients at a 2:1 ratio to receive either ShengJinRunZaoYangXue granules or placebo once daily. Patients and investigators were blinded to treatment allocation. The primary endpoints were the salivary flow rate, Schirmer test results, and sugar test results. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 240 patients were randomly allocated to either the treatment group (n = 160, ShengJinRunZaoYangXue granules) or placebo group (n = 80) and were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. After program violation and loss to follow-up, a total of 199 patients were included in the per-protocol analysis. At six week, intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses of the left-eye Schirmer I test results showed an improved difference of 1.36 mm/5 min (95% CI: 0.03 to 2.69 mm/5 min) and 1.35 mm/5 min (95% CI: 0.04 to 2.73 mm/5 min), respectively, and those of the right-eye Schirmer I test results showed an improved difference of 1.12 mm/5 min (95% CI: 0.02 to 2.22 mm/5 min) and 1.12 mm/5 min (95% CI: -0.02 to 2.27 mm/5 min), respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups before treatment. After treatment, the between-group and within-group before-and-after paired comparison results were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses showed an improved salivary flow rate by 0.04 ml/15 min (95% CI: -0.49 to 0.58 ml/15 min) and 0.04 ml/15 min (95% CI: -0.52 to 0.60 ml/15 min), respectively, but the differences were not significant. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses showed that the sugar test results were improved by 1.77 minutes (95% CI: 0.11 to 3.44 minutes) and 1.84 minutes (95% CI: 0.12 to 3.55 minutes), respectively, but the differences were not significant. For the secondary endpoint, intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses showed significant improvement in the integrated evaluation of treated patients with dry eye and dry mouth after six weeks of treatment. The incidence of adverse events was 15.6% in the treatment group and 10.0% in the placebo group. Most (94%) adverse events were mild to moderate in the two groups, and only two cases of serious adverse events occurred in the treatment group; both were caused by autoimmune liver disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Six-week treatment with ShengJinRun ZaoYangXue granules for primary Sjögren's syndrome in this large-scale study improved the symptoms of dry mouth, dry eyes, and low tear flow rate with minimal adverse events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism, Nanjing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210001, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China. Email: greatdoctorsh@139.com.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China.
authors.forename: Miaojia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China.
authors.forename: Chengyin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lyu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism, Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital of Wuxi City, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214072, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism, Suzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215009, China.
authors.forename: Zhong'en
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatism, Changzhou Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213003, China.
authors.forename: Zhengqiu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal