title: Chinese herbal medicine (weijing decoction) combined with pharmacotherapy for the treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: Objective. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Weijing decoction combined with routine pharmacotherapy (RP) for the treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Methods. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) evaluating Weijing decoction for AECOPD were included. English, Chinese, and Japanese databases were searched from their respective inceptions to June 2013. The methodological quality was assessed according to the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool. All data were analyzed and synthesized using RevMan 5.2 software. Results. Fifteen (15) studies involving 986 participants were included. Participants were diagnosed with COPD in the acute exacerbation stage. In addition, most of studies reported that they included participants with the Chinese medicine syndrome, phlegm-heat obstructing the Lung. Weijing decoction combined with RP improved lung function (forced expiratory volume in one second; FEV1), arterial blood gases (PaO2 and PaCO2), clinical effective rate, and reduced inflammatory biomarkers (TNF-α and IL-8) when compared with RP alone. No severe adverse events were reported in these studies. Conclusions. Weijing decoction appeared to be beneficial for AECOPD and well-tolerated when taken concurrently with RP, such as antibiotics, bronchodilators (oral and inhaled), and mucolytics.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; The 2nd Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Shaonan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4618-5779
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Traditional & Complementary Medicine Research Program, Health Innovations Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3083, Australia.
authors.forename: Johannah
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1840-1617
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shergis
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; The 2nd Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Xiankun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0353-4185
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; The 2nd Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Xuhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; The 2nd Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Xinfeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Traditional & Complementary Medicine Research Program, Health Innovations Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3083, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony Lin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0968-9380
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; The 2nd Clinical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510120, China ; Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Chuanjian
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6531-0702
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Traditional & Complementary Medicine Research Program, Health Innovations Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, RMIT University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3083, Australia.
authors.forename: Charlie Changli
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Xue