Therapeutic effects of herbal-medicine combined therapy for COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Background/Aim: Since 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a devastating disease affecting global health to a great extent. Some countries have added on herbal medicines as a complementary treatment for combating COVID-19 due to the urgency of stopping the spread of this viral disease. However, whether these herbal medicines are effective is uncertain. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of herbal medicine combined therapy in the treatment of COVID-19.Methods: A literature search was performed following the PRISMA Statement and without language restrictions. Seven databases were searched from inception through December 2021. All selected studies were randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Comparing the effects of herbal medicine combined therapy with conventional western medicine, including improvement of clinical symptoms, chest CT images, viral conversion rate, C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6. Cochrane criteria were applied to examine the methodological quality of the enrolled trials; and meta-analysis software (RevMan 5.4.1) was used for data analysis.Results: In total, the data of 5,417 participants from 40 trials were included in this systematic review; and 28 trials were qualified for meta-analysis. The trials had medium-to-high quality based on GRADE system. Meta-analysis showed that combining herbal medicine vs conventional treatment in 1) coughing (1.43 95% CI:1.21, 1.71, p = 0.0001), 2) fever (1.09 95% CI:1.00, 1.19, p = 0.06), 3) fatigue (1.21 95% CI:1.10, 1.33, p = 0.0001); 4) CT images (1.26 95% CI:1.19, 1.34, P ≤ 0.00001), 5) viral conversion rates (1.22 95% CI:1.06, 1.40, p = 0.005) and 6) viral conversion times (−3.72 95% CI: −6.05, −1.40, p = 0.002), 7) IL6 change (1.97 95% CI: −0.72, 4.66, p = 0.15) and 8) CRP change (−7.92 95% CI: −11.30, −4.53, P ≤ 0.00001).Conclusion: Herbal medicine combined therapy significantly reduces COVID-19 clinical symptoms, improving CT images and viral conversion rates. Reported adverse events are mild. However, for certain biases in the included studies, and the need for further study on effective components of herbal medicine. Further large trials with better randomized design are warranted to definite a more definite role of herbal medicine.

Home Remedy Practices Among Stay-at-Home COVID-19 Patients in Bangladesh

“…From Figure 4, it is evident that to get relief from a sore throat, several home remedies were favored more than allopathic medicines. A systematic review with the data of 5,417 participants from 40 trials showed that the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 were greatly reduced by herbal medicine and conventional Western medicine combination treatment [51]. It was observed that many patients preferred to take allopathic treatment in addition to a variety of home remedies.…”

Herbal Medicine and COVID-19: An Umbrella Review

“…Overall, this would be considered a slight overlap. Twenty-seven 35,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]60,61,64,65,[68][69][70] out of the 41 systematic reviews included in this paper (67.5%) contained 5 or more articles cited more than once across all included reviews (see Table S1 in the supplemental material). All these reviews studied TCM, including patent TCM herbal formulas.…”

“…Twenty-five 35,[37][38][39][41][42][43][44][45]47,48,[51][52][53][54][55]57,60,65,66,68,69,70,72,74 of the systematic reviews found significant improvement in ROR, based on one or more of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, primarily fever, cough, fatigue. Other ROR that improved included chest pain, sore throat, and expectoration.…”

Aplicação de antioxidantes naturais na reprodução animal

“…A China apresentou o maior número de publicações (15,7%), seguida pelo Brasil (9,8%) e Índia (9,8%). China e Índia têm tradição no uso de plantas medicinais, ganhando aceitação de inúmeras pessoas (38,39) , e assim, os fitoquímicos são amplamente aceitos pela comunidade, e as investigações de outras aplicações destes moléculas tendem a ser maiores que de outros países. O Brasil possui alta biodiversidade e foco econômico na agricultura.…”