Therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese medicine (Maxingshigan-Weijing Decoction) on COVID-19: An open-label randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background : Wenzhou has achieved great progress in the prevention and control of the growing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played an indispensable role in this fight. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Maxingshigan-Weijing decoction (MWD) in treating infected patients. Methods : This study was an open-label randomized controlled trial. Inpatients with mild or moderate symptoms caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were randomly treated with routine supportive care alone or a combination of routine supportive care and MWD. The primary outcome was the rate of symptom (fever, fatigue, cough and difficulty breathing) recovery. Results : Fifty-nine inpatients were enrolled, of whom 29 received routine supportive care alone (control group) and 30 received combination therapy (treatment group). The rate of symptom recovery was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group. The time to recovery of fever (3 vs. 7 days), fatigue (9 vs. 12 days), coughing (9 vs. 14 days) and difficulty breathing (4.5 vs. 9.5 days) was also significantly shorter in the treatment group (all p < 0.001). The syndrome score was lower after MWD treatment. However, neither group differed in the viral assay findings, hospitalization days, medication time or the rate of conversion to severe cases. Conclusions : MWD increased the rate of symptom recovery and shortened the time to recovery of clinical symptoms without deterioration to death or critical care. These findings may provide opportunities for the use of complementary medicine in treating this infection. Clinical trial registration : Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2000030759.

Herbal Medicine Intervention for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Living Systematic Review and Cumulative Meta-Analysis

“…et al, 2020 ; Wang Y. et al, 2020 ; Xiong WZ. et al, 2020 ; G-CHAMPS Collaborative Group, 2020 ; Yu et al, 2020 ; Zhang C. et al, 2020 ; Zhang Y. et al, 2020 ; Zhao et al, 2020 ; Zheng et al, 2020 ; Liu J. et al, 2021 ; Zeng et al, 2021 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ) Reasons for exclusion of 26 full-text articles are provided in Supplementary Table S2 . Most trials included in this review were not registered (18/25; 72%), published in Chinese (16/25; 64%), and evaluated treatment in symptomatic COVID-19 patients (2,272/2,288; 99%).…”

“…et al, 2020 ; Xiong WZ. et al, 2020 ; Fu et al, 2020b ; Sun H.-m. et al, 2020 ; Wang Y. et al, 2020 ; Ding et al, 2020 ; Duan et al, 2020 ; Hu et al, 2020 ; Lin et al, 2020 ; G-CHAMPS Collaborative Group, 2020 ; Yu et al, 2020 ; Liu J. et al, 2021 ; Zeng et al, 2021 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ). The specific information on the generation of randomization was absent in nine trials.…”

“…Most of the trials did not report on allocation sequence concealment. Six trials were open-labeled ( Sun H.-m. et al, 2020 ; Wang Y. et al, 2020 ; Hu et al, 2020 ; G-CHAMPS Collaborative Group, 2020 ; Liu J. et al, 2021 ; Zeng et al, 2021 ), one was double-blinded ( Wang JB. et al, 2020 ), and the remaining trials did not provide information on masking.…”

“…Of the seven trials with publicly accessible protocols or registrations, two trials did not report results for one or more outcomes that were pre-specified in their protocols ( Hu et al, 2020 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ). The reporting bias in two trials was assessed as concerning due to selective reporting and missing outcome data ( Zhao et al, 2020 ; Zeng et al, 2021 ). One trial was initially posted as a preprint and subsequently peer-reviewed and published, and no substantial discrepancies in reporting were determined between the preprint and journal publication ( G-CHAMPS Collaborative Group, 2020 ).…”

“…(Continued on following page) Frontiers in Pharmacology | www.frontiersin.org June 2022 | Volume 13 | Article 906764Group, 2020;Yu et al, 2020;Zhao et al, 2020;Zheng et al, 2020;Liu J. et al, 2021;Zeng et al, 2021;Zhou et al, 2021) Reasons for exclusion of 26 full-text articles are provided in Supplementary TableS2.…”