Chinese herbal medicine for mild cognitive impairment using mini-mental state examination

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the elderly population aged 60 to 84 years ranges from 6.7% to 25.2%, and the effective prevention and reversal of MCI progression to Alzheimer disease (AD) is crucial. The mini mental state examination (MMSE) is the most commonly used screening tool in Chinese outpatient clinics, with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to allow useful stratification from average to abnormal with adequate consideration of age and education. Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of Chinese herbs on MMSE scores in MCI patients and discuss the effectiveness of Chinese herbs through pharmacology. Methods: Three English databases and 4 Chinese databases we have searched, and the risk of bias was assessed according to the Cochrane tool. Statistics will be used for heterogeneity assessment, sensitivity analysis, data synthesis, funnel plot generation and subgroup analysis. If sufficiently homogeneous studies are found, a Meta-analysis will be performed, with subgroups describing any differences. Results: A total of 21 studies were included, 4 studies were placebo-controlled, 14 Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHMs) were compared with other cognitive improvements, 3 CHMs were combined with other medications, and the results of 17 studies favored the herbal group. Conclusion: The results indicate that herbal medicine can improve MMSE scores, and herbal medicine combined with other drugs that can improve cognition can significantly improve MMSE scores, but there are methodological flaws in the study. Experimental studies have found a basis for the ability of herbs to improve cognition and memory impairment, and herbal medicine has great potential to improve MCI cognition. Keywords mild cognitive impairment, herbal medicine, MMSE, systematic evaluation, meta-analysis. PROSPERO international prospective register of systematic reviews protocol registration number: CRD42020202368

The efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine for mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials

“…In addition, we prioritize randomized placebo-controlled trial as the optimal study design to assess the efficacy of CHM, as they provide the highest level of evidence ( Burns et al, 2011 ), and the use of indistinguishable placebos is the most effective method for determining the pure biological effect of an intervention in experimental settings ( Cummings et al, 2013 ). Whilst previous reviews explored the effects of CHM using various types of comparisons ( Dong et al, 2016 ; Dong et al, 2019 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; Liang et al, 2022 ). In comparison to previous reviews, our review includes a larger number of original studies from a more diverse range of countries, thereby providing more comprehensive evidence.…”

“…A recent network pharmacology study indicates that, CHM exhibits considerable potential for treating MCI, which may attributed to various mechanisms including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, anti-amyloid-beta toxicity, cholinergic system regulation, and neuroprotective effects ( Chang et al, 2022 ). Previous systematic reviews have acknowledged the potential of CHM in enhancing cognitive function among patients with MCI ( Dong et al, 2016 ; Dong et al, 2019 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; Liang et al, 2022 ). These reviews encompassed diverse comparisons such as CHM vs. no treatment, CHM vs. Western medicine, or CHM in combination with Western medicine vs. Western medicine alone.…”

Exploration on the Improvement of Cognitive Function and Inflammatory Response in Perimenopausal Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment by Self-Prepared Ningshen Prescription

“…Chinese medicine believes that the disease of good forgetfulness is located in the brain and its pathological changes are closely related to the heart, spleen, and kidney. In recent years, several studies [ 11 , 12 ] have classified statistics on the TCM typology of MCI, and the typology of MCI is based on the common features of MCI such as kidney deficiency, liver depression, and phlegm and blood stasis, which brings new ideas to the treatment of MCI.…”

Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Baicalein, an Active Ingredient of Yiqi Qingre Ziyin Method, Potentially Protects Patients With Atrophic Rhinitis From Cognitive Impairment

“…In recent years, certain progress has been made in the exploration of etiology and pathogenesis, disease prevention and drug treatment. Our literature review showed that although many clinical trials have tentatively demonstrated the effectiveness of TCM in improving the clinical symptoms of cognitive dysfunction in elderly people, more reliable and objective evidence-based medical evidence is still needed (May et al, 2009;Wang et al, 2020Wang et al, , 2021. Flavonoids, alkaloids, phenylpropanoids, triterpenoid saponins and polysaccharides, extracted from natural herbs, which often function as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, antiapoptotic agents and neural regulators, have proven to be effective treatments for dementia.…”