title: Evidence of Chinese herbal medicine Duhuo Jisheng decoction for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review of randomised clinical trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Duhuo Jisheng decoction (DJD) is considered beneficial for controlling knee osteoarthritis (KOA)-related symptoms in some Asian countries. This review compiles the evidence from randomised clinical trials and quantifies the effects of DJD on KOA.
  
  
  METHODS
  7 online databases were investigated up to 12 October 2015. Randomised clinical trials investigating treatment of KOA for which DJD was used either as a monotherapy or in combination with conventional therapy compared to no intervention, placebo or conventional therapy, were included. The outcomes included the evaluation of functional activities, pain and adverse effect. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. The estimated mean difference (MD) and SMD was within a 95% CI with respect to interstudy heterogeneity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  12 studies with 982 participants were identified. The quality presented a high risk of bias. Meta-analysis found that DJD combined with glucosamine (MD 4.20 (1.72 to 6.69); p<0.001) or DJD plus meloxicam and glucosamine (MD 3.48 (1.59 to 5.37); p<0.001) had a more significant effect in improving Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (total WOMAC scores). Also, meta-analysis presented more remarkable pain improvement when DJD plus sodium hyaluronate injection (MD 0.89 (0.26 to 1.53); p=0.006) was used. These studies demonstrated that active treatment of DJD in combination should be practiced for at least 4 weeks. Information on the safety of DJD or comprehensive therapies was insufficient in few studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DJD combined with Western medicine or sodium hyaluronate injection appears to have benefits for KOA. However, the effectiveness and safety of DJD is uncertain because of the limited number of trials and low methodological quality. Therefore, practitioners should be cautious when applying DJD in daily practice. Future clinical trials should be well designed; more research is needed.
authors.affiliation: Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Orthopedics, Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shangquan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory, Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ranxing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xinjian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Academy of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Scientific Research, Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C000598415:duhuo jisheng
keywords: COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE; Duohuo jisheng decoction; knee osteoarthritis