title: Meta-analysis of Huangqi injection for the adjunctive therapy of aplastic anemia.
abstract: Aplastic anemia therapy remains difficult, due to lack of effective treatment regimens. In recent years, Huangqi injection for the adjunctive therapy of aplastic anemia has been reported in many clinical trials. Considering that Huangqi injection may be a novel approach to aplastic anemia treatment, we conducted a meta-analysis of clinical controlled trials to assess the clinical value of Huangqi injection in the treatment of aplastic anemia. We searched the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journals Full-text Database (VIP), Wanfang Database, PubMed and EMBASE database to collect the data about the trials of Huangqi injection combined with androgens for treating aplastic anemia. A total of ten studies involving 720 patients with aplastic anemia were included in this study. The meta-analysis showed significant increases in the pool effectiveness rate, white blood cells (WBC), haematoglobin (Hb), platelets (PLT), and reticulocytes (Ret) between the experimental group versus the control group. No severe side effects were found in this study. However, the lower Jadad scores and asymmetric funnel plot degrades the validity of the meta-analysis as the clinical evidence. Therefore, Huangqi injection may significantly enhance the efficacy of androgens for aplastic anemia, suggesting that the novel approach of Chinese traditional medicine combined with Western medicine is promising. The exact outcome required confirmation with rigorously well-designed multi-center trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai 200233, China.
authors.forename: Changtai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kunshan Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Kunshan 215300, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Yulu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Anhui Medical University Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine Shanghai 200120, China.
authors.forename: Cao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai 200233, China.
authors.forename: Zongshuai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai 200233, China.
authors.forename: Yongning
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
keywords: Chinese herbs; Meta-analysis; aplastic anemia; huangqi injection; therapy