title: [Efficacy and safety of Stronger Neo-Minophagen C for treatment of chronic hepatitis B: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy and safety of Stronger Neo-Minophagen C (SNMC) in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CBM, and CNKI up to December, 2012 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing Stronger Neo-Minophagen C plus other therapy versus others therapy for chronic hepatitis B. Two reviewers independently assessed the risk of bias and extracted data from the included RCTs according to the Cochrane Reviewers Handbook 5.1.0. Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.1 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-one trials involving 2753 patients were included in the analysis. The results of meta-analyses showed that SNMC improved hepatic functions of the patients by reducing ALT (MD=-31.63, 95% CI: -51.57, -11.70), AST (MD=-18.70, 95% CI:-25.10, -12.30), TBIL (MD=-12.17, 95% CI: -17.63,-6.71), HA (MD=-94.89, 95% CI: -125.19, -64.60), LN (MD=-40.08, 95% CI: -52.38,-27.78), IV-C (MD=-50.61, 95% CI:-63.40, -37.81), PC-III (MD=-49.71, 95% CI: -71.72, -27.69) as compared with the control group. The seroconversion rate of HBeAg (OR=2.23, 95% CI: 1.70, 2.94), HBV-DNA (OR=2.20, 95% CI: 1.70, 2.84), HBsAg (OR=2.25, 95% CI: 1.24 , 4.07), total response rate (OR=4.37, 95% CI: 2.62, 7.28), and ALT normalization rate (OR=3.77, 95% CI: 2.46, 5.79) were all significantly higher in the combined therapy group than in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SNMC plus other therapy is more effective than other therapy alone in improving the hepatic function and hepatic fibrosis and increasing hepatic seroconversion rate in patients with chronic hepatitis B without causing serious adverse events. But considering the low quality of the included studies, the results should be interpreted with caution and awaits further confirmation by high-quality, large-scale RCTs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evidence-Based Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.E-mail: 625345514@qq.com.
authors.forename: Jianrong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tianqiang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D003545:Cysteine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005998:Glycine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006034:Glycyrrhetinic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; C083319:stronger neominophagen C; D003545:Cysteine; D006034:Glycyrrhetinic Acid; D005998:Glycine