ObjectiveThis research employed a network meta-analysis (NMA) to examine the effectiveness of five traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) monomers for promoting motor function recovery in rats with blunt spinal cord injury (SCI).MethodsWangfang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Web of Science, Embase, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, PubMed, and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Databases were searched for retrieving relevant articles published from their inception to December 2022. Two reviewers performed screening of search results, data extraction, and literature quality assessment independently.ResultsFor this meta-analysis, 59 publications were included. Based on the recovery of motor function at weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 in NMA, almost all TCM groups had significantly increased positive effects than the negative control animals. In terms of cumulative probability, the tanshinone IIA (TIIA) group ranked first in restoring motor function in the first week after blunt SCI, and the resveratrol (RSV) group ranked first during the last 3 weeks.ConclusionThe NMA revealed that TCM monomers could effectively restore motor function in the rat model of blunt SCI. In rats with blunt SCI, TIIA may be the most effective TCM monomer during the first week, whereas RSV may be the most effective TCM monomer during the last 3 weeks in promoting motor function recovery. For better evidence reliability in preclinical investigations and safer extrapolation of those findings into clinical settings, further research standardizing the implementation and reporting of animal experiments is required.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://inplasy.com/, identifier INPLASY202310070.
Review question / Objective: 2.1.1 Participants -In rodents (mainly rats), the pathophysiology during SCI is similar to humans, and they are also less expensive and more standardized, making them the most commonly used SCI animal model. Therefore, we included rat models as the experimental animal model without restricting the rat strain. The injury method of SCI used contusion and compression injury. 2.1.2 Interventions -TCM monomers (CUR, TMP, RSV, GS, TIIA). 2.1.3 Control -(1) Positive control: contrasts between different TCM monomers. (2) Negative control: normal saline, vehicle, blank, PBS, DMSO. 2.1.4 Outcome-In rats with SCI, the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) Locomotor Rating Scale score measures motor abilities, which ranges from 0 to 21 (spanning from complete flaccid paraplegia to normal function), and can reflect the recovery of motor function sensitively. 2.1.5 Type of Study -Control studies were included. INPLASY registration number: This protocol was registered with the International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (INPLASY) on 22 January 2023 and was last updated on 22 January 2023 (registration number INPLASY202310070).
Participant or population All animal models with spinal cord injury are included without restriction on animal species and modeling methods.
Intervention Stem cell sheets.Comparator Stem cell suspension injection, blank, Gelatin sponge, normal saline, PBS, vehicle, cultural medium.
Study designs to be included control studies.
Eligibility criteriaThe following criteria were used to determine eligibility for inclusion in this study: (1) use of stem cell sheets; (2) in vivo studies utilizing the SCI animal model; (3) manuscripts written in English. The following types of studies were excluded: (1) manuscript designs including reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, case reports, guidelines, clinical studies, conference INPLASY 1
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