title: [Kidney-tonifying Chinese medicine for male infertility: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of kidney-tonifying traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of male infertility.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on the principles and methods of Cochrane systematic reviews, we searched CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang databases from inception to December 2012 for randomized controlled clinical trials addressing the treatment of male infertility with kidney-tonifying traditional Chinese medicine. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and retrieval strategies, we extracted the data, evaluated the quality of the included literature, and conducted meta-analysis using the RevMan 5. 2 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty trials involving 2,272 patients were included, and the sample size of each study was from 60 to 270 cases. All the studies were graded as of poor quality, with Jadad scores of no more than 3 points. The results of meta-analysis showed that the total effectiveness rate of traditional Chinese medicine versus Western medicine on male infertility was RR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.19-2.47, and that of Chinese-Western combined therapy versus Western medicine was RR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.01-1.30. Both traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese-Western combined therapy showed a significantly better total effectiveness than Western medicine alone in improving the pregnancy rate without serious adverse reactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Due to the poor methodological quality and high heterogeneity of the included studies, the evidence for the efficacy and safety of kidney-tonifying traditional Chinese drugs in the treatment of male infertility is of but limited value, and further validation is needed by more high-quality studies.
authors.forename: Jian-fu
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qiu-hong
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Rong-wu
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Zhi-qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Song-tao
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Xiang
mesh_terms: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007668:Kidney; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D011247:Pregnancy; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal