PG2 for patients with acute spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study

Abstract

PG2 is an infusible polysaccharide extracted from Astragalus membranaceus, which is a Chinese herb traditionally used for stroke treatment. We investigated the effect of PG2 on patients with spontaneous acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). A total of 61 patients with acute spontaneous ICH were randomized to either the treatment group (TG, 30 patients), which received 3 doses of PG2 (500 mg, IV) per week for 2 weeks, or the control group (CG, 31 patients), which received PG2 placebo. At 84 days after PG2 administration, the percentage of patients with a good Glasgow outcome scale (GOS 4–5) score in the TG was similar to that in the CG (69.0% vs. 48.4%; p = 0.2). The percentage of good mRS scores (0–2) in the TG was similar to that in the CG (62.1% vs. 45.2%; p = 0.3). In addition, no significant differences were seen when comparing differences in the C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and S100B levels between baseline and days 4, 7, and 14 after PG2 administration (all p > 0.05). The results are preliminary, necessitating a more thorough assessment.

Efficacy and Safety of Chinese Herbal Medicine in Patients with Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Protocol for a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Double-Blinded Multicenter Trial

“…Overall, ICH accounts for nearly half of all stroke deaths, worldwide [1]. Most interventions being investigated for the treatment of acute ICH have targeted the reduction of hematoma expansion and secondary brain injury, including through early intensive blood pressure (BP) control [2][3][4], surgical removal of the hematoma [5,6] (DF Hanley et al; Mendelow AD et al, 2013), hemostatic therapy [7], use of hypothermia and neuroprotective agents [8,9]. The results have been variable regarding any improvement in the conventional primary outcome of functional recovery according to the standard patient-centered measure of scores on the modified Rankin scale (mRS).…”