title: Efficacy of Ligustrazine Injection as Adjunctive Therapy for Angina Pectoris: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND In the past decades, a large number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy of ligustrazine injection combined with conventional antianginal drugs for angina pectoris have been reported. However, these RCTs have not been evaluated in accordance with PRISMA systematic review standards. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ligustrazine injection as adjunctive therapy for angina pectoris. MATERIAL AND METHODS The databases PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, Embase, Sino-Med, Wanfang Databases, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, Google Scholar, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Chinese Science Citation Database were searched for published RCTs. Meta-analysis was performed on the primary outcome measures, including the improvements of electrocardiography (ECG) and the reductions in angina symptoms. Sensitivity and subgroup analysis based on the M score (the refined Jadad scores) were also used to evaluate the effect of quality, sample size, and publication year of the included RCTs on the overall effect of ligustrazine injection. RESULTS Eleven RCTs involving 870 patients with angina pectoris were selected in this study. Compared with conventional antianginal drugs alone, ligustrazine injection combined with antianginal drugs significantly increased the efficacy in symptom improvement (odds ratio [OR], 3.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.39 to 5.40) and in ECG improvement (OR, 3.42; 95% CI: 2.33 to 5.01). Sensitivity and subgroup analysis also confirmed that ligustrazine injection had better effect in the treatment of angina pectoris as adjunctive therapy. CONCLUSIONS The 11 eligible RCTs indicated that ligustrazine injection as adjunctive therapy was more effective than antianginal drugs alone. However, due to the low quality of included RCTs, more rigorously designed RCTs were still needed to verify the effects of ligustrazine injection as adjunctive therapy for angina pectoris.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Huikai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Futian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Lingguo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Dongfeng Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Fuchao
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Futian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Shengbo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Shengquan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (mainland).
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D006801:Humans; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011719:Pyrazines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D011719:Pyrazines; C017953:tetramethylpyrazine