Background: A new type of coronavirus, novel coronavirus , is causing an increasing number of cases of pneumonia and was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020. The virus first appeared in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019, and traditional Chinese herbal medicine is being used for its treatment. This systematic review and meta-analysis will assess studies of the effects of traditional Chinese herbal medicine in COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods: We will search electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP), and Wanfang database using keywords related to COVID-19 and traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Reference lists of relevant trials and reviews will be searched. We will manually search gray literature, such as conference proceedings and academic degree dissertations, and trial registries. Two independent reviewers will screen studies (XL and DZ), extract data (YL and LG), and evaluate risk of bias (YL and DZ). Data analysis will be conducted using the Review Manager software (version 5.3.5) and R software (version 3.6.1). Statistical heterogeneity will be assessed using a standard chi-square test with a significance level of P < 0.10. Biases associated with study size (e.g., publication bias) will be investigated using funnel plots, Egger's test and Begg's test, and Trim and Fill analysis.Discussion: This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of the effects of traditional Chinese herbal medicine for COVID-19. The use of traditional Chinese herbal medicine for treatment or prevention of these novel viral infections affecting the pneumonia will be investigated. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020168004

Background A new type of coronavirus, novel coronavirus (COVID-19), is causing an increasing number of cases of pneumonia and was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020. The virus first appeared in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 and traditional Chinese herbal medicine is being used for its treatment. This systematic review and meta-analysis will assess studies of the effects of traditional Chinese herbal medicine in COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods We will search electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) and Wanfang database using keywords related to COVID-19 and traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Reference lists of relevant trials and reviews will be searched. We will manually search grey literature, such as conference proceedings and academic degree dissertations, and trial registries. Two independent reviewers will screen studies (XL and DZ), extract data (YL and LG) and evaluate risk of bias (YL and DZ). Data analysis will be conducted using Review Manager software (version 5.3.5) and R software (version 3.6.1). Statistical heterogeneity will be assessed using a standard Chi-square test with a significance level of P < 0.10. Biases associated with study size (e.g. publication bias) will be investigated using funnel plots, the Egger 's test and Begg 's test and Trim and Fill analysis. Discussion This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of the effects of traditional Chinese herbal medicine for COVID-19. The use of traditional Chinese herbal medicine for treatment or prevention of these novel viral infections affecting the pneumonia will be investigated. Systematic review registration PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020168004

PurposeAcute lung injury (ALI) is a common and fatal oxidative stress in the lung, mainly induced by endothelial injury and capillary leakage. In our previous study, “Fusu agent”, a traditional Chinese medicine, was found to exert preventive effect on endothelial damage in lipopoly-saccharide (LPS)-induced ALI model rats partially via inhibiting heparanase1 (HPA1) activation and inhibiting the inflammatory factors. However, it is still unknown whether Fusu agent exerts its therapeutic effect in LPS-induced ALI model rats and its potential mechanism.Materials and methodsRats were injected with LPS (3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) to induced ALI, and the prepared Fusu agent was given (2, 4 or 6 g/kg) 2 hours after LPS challenge. Twenty-four or 48 hours after Fusu agent administration, the biochemical changes in the plasma and lung tissues and the morphological/histological changes in the lung associated with inflammation and injury were evaluated. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were employed to confirm the therapeutic effects of Fusu agent and investigate its mechanisms, that is, affecting ROS accumulation, mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MTP) maintenance and decreasing the expression levels of HPA1.ResultsAdministration of Fusu agent obviously improved the lung injury and recovered vascular endothelium loss and injury. CD31 signal, which is a specific marker for endothelial vascular lesions, was decreased after Fusu agent treatment in LPS-induced ALI model rats, indicating its therapeutic effect against endothelial surface layer injury. Meanwhile, Fusu agent also decreased HPA1 expression and inflammatory responses. In vitro, Fusu agent-medicated serum decreased injury and cell death induced by LPS in HUVECs by stabilizing MTP and decreasing the leakage of lactate dehydrogenase. Consistently, Fusu agent-medicated serum downregulated HPA1 induced by LPS stimulation.ConclusionThese findings suggest that Fusu agent exerts its therapeutic effect in both LPS-induced ALI model rats and HUVECs potentially via suppressing HPA1 expression, and thus exerts prosurvival effect via maintaining MTP and attenuating cell injury.

Background: A new type of coronavirus, 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), is causing an increasing number of cases of pneumonia and has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020. The virus first appeared in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is being used for its treatment. This systematic review and meta-analysis will assess studies of the effects of TCM in 2019-nCoV-infected pneumonia (NCIP). Methods: We will search electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) and Wanfang database using keywords related to NCIP and TCM.Reference lists of relevant trials and reviews will be searched. We will manually search

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