ObjectiveTo assess the clinical effectiveness and safety of modified ‘Huoxue Shugan’ (HXSG) formulas used as Chinese herbal medicine in treating patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and depression.MethodsA systematic literature search of articles up to March 2018 will be performed in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journals Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System and Wanfang Database. Inclusion criteria are as follows: randomised controlled trials of modified HXSG formulas in patients with CHD and depression. The primary outcome measures will be CHD-related clinical evaluation (frequency of acute angina, severity of angina pectoris, ECG changes, dose of nitroglycerin) and the scores or amount of reduction in scales measuring depression (ie, the Hamilton Depression Scale or other widely used depression scales). The safety outcome measures will be adverse events, liver and kidney function. RevMan V.5.3 software will be used for data synthesis, sensitivity analyses, subgroup analyses and risk of bias assessment. A funnel plot will be developed to evaluate reporting bias. Stata V.12.0 will be used for meta-regression and Egger tests. We will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system to assess the quality of evidence.Ethics and disseminationThis systematic review does not require ethics approval and will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018089641.
Background:Stable angina pectoris (SAP) is one of the most common symptoms of coronary heart disease. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used to treat SAP increasingly due to its less side effects. The subject of this study is to explore the effectiveness and safety of Gualou Xiebai Banxia (GLXBBX) decoction as a kind of CHM for SAP.Methods:A systematic literature search for articles up to June 2018 will be performed in following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journals Database, Chinese Biomedical Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System (SinoMed), and Wanfang Database. Inclusion criteria are randomized controlled trials of modified GLXBBX decoction applied on patients with SAP. The primary outcome measures will be coronary heart disease-related clinical evaluation (frequency of acute attack angina, severity of angina pectoris, electrocardiographic changes, and amount of nitroglycerin) and adverse events. RevMan 5.3 software will be used for data synthesis, sensitivity analysis, metaregression, subgroup analysis, and risk of bias assessment. A funnel plot will be developed to evaluate reporting bias and Egger tests will be used to assess funnel plot symmetries. We will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system to assess the quality of evidence.Results:This systematic review study will provide an evidence of GLXBBX decoction for SAP.Conclusion:The study will give an explicit evidence to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of GLXBBX decoction for SAP.Ethics and dissemination:This systematic review does not require ethics approval and will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.PROSPERO registration number:CRD 42018094538.
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