Effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicineas as an Adjunct Therapy for Refractory Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis

Abstract

Although recent studies focused on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for the treatment of refractory schizophrenia have reported that it may be beneficial, there is still lack of convincing evidence and critical meta-analytic work regarding its effectiveness as an adjunctive therapy. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the effectiveness of TCM in combination with antipsychotics for refractory schizophrenia. Fourteen articles involving 1725 patients published as of December 2016 were included which compared antipsychotic therapies to either TCM alone, or TCM as an adjunctive therapy. TCM was observed to have beneficial effects on aspects of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) including total score changes and negative score changes, as well as clinical effects estimated with PANSS or the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). The changes in extrapyramidal side effects (RSESE) scores from baseline to the end of the treatment period were similar in two groups of related trials. TCM was also reported to mitigate some anti-psychotic related side-effects and overall, TCM adjuvant therapy was generally safe and well tolerated. While, the results indicated the potential utility of TCM as an alternative adjunctive therapeutic for refractory schizophrenia treatment, there remains a need for further high-quality studies.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Decoction Combined With Antipsychotic for Chronic Schizophrenia Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…In recent years, the role of TCM in global health care has been more understood by the scientific community. This scenario is evident through the increasing number of systematic reviews and meta-analysis that have been used to evaluate the efficacy of TCM to supplement and replace western medicine ( Che et al, 2016 ; Wei et al, 2018 ). TCM treatment follows the concept of holistic practice, not only for a pathological phenomenon but to coordinate the physiological conditions of the human body to balance various indicators.…”

Efficacy and safety of Jie-du-qing-nao granules for first-episode schizophrenics: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…With the help of modern scienti c research methods, limited evidence suggests that TCM combined with antipsychotic can more effectively improve the psychiatric symptoms(like Wendan Decoction [8]), cognitive functions(like Wendan Decoction [8] and Warmsupplementing Kidney Yang Capsule [9]) and lower the side effects of antipsychotics (like Suoquan Pill and Wuling Powder [10]) in patients with SCZ. A systematic review also a rmed the role of TCM as adjuvant therapy in improving psychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairment in patients with SCZ [11].…”

<p>Long-term efficacy and safety of paliperidone palmitate once-monthly in Chinese patients with recent-onset schizophrenia</p>

“…Differences in acceptability to antipsychotics and variances in efficacy and tolerability profiles of antipsychotics among Chinese patients with schizophrenia have been corelated with pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic inconsistencies and are known to have clinically relevant implications on prescription patterns in China 28,29. In addition, the influence of traditional herbal medicine, a prevalent practice in China and social stigma associated with psychiatric conditions, could potentially influence the course and outcomes of antipsychotic treatments 26,30,31. The Chinese subgroup therefore represents a unique population with a high cultural impact.…”