title: Oral oxymatrine preparation for chronic hepatitis B: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral oxymatrine preparation for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on oral oxymatrine preparation in treating patients with CHB were retrieved until October 2013 by searching PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase and four Chinese databases, irrespective of language and publication status. Data extraction and data analyses were conducted according to the Cochrane standards. The risk of bias for each included trials and the quality of evidence on pre-specified outcomes were assessed. The RevMan software was used for statistical analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally 52 RCTs enrolling 5,227 participants were included, of which 51 RCTs were included in meta-analyses. Oral oxymatrine preparation including oxymatrine capsule and oxymatrine tablet were associated with statistically significant effect on the clearance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA, HBV surface antigen and HBV e antigen, and were beneficial to the normalization of serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Nevertheless, the overall methodological quality and the quality of evidence in the included trials were poor. In addition, safety of oral oxymatrine preparation was not confirmed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral oxymatrine preparation showed some potential benefits for patients with CHB. However, the overall quality of evidence was limited and the safety of oral oxymatrine preparation for CHB patients was still unproven. More high quality evidence from rigorously designed RCTs is warranted to support the clinical use of oral oxymatrine preparation for patients with CHB.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.|Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China.
authors.forename: Wei-jiang
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Graduate School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.|Traditional Chinese Medicine Department of Rheumatism, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Graduate School, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, China. yao_sk@163.com.
authors.forename: Shu-kun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000470:Alkaloids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017594:Publication Bias; D011807:Quinolizines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D000093842:Matrines
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D011807:Quinolizines; C037573:oxymatrine; D000093842:Matrines
keywords: Chinese herb; alkaloid; chronic; hepatitis B; oxymatrine; systematic review