Efficacy and Safety of Chinese Medicine Lianhua Qingwen for Treating COVID-19: An Updated meta-Analysis

Abstract

The traditional Chinese medicine formula Lianhua Qingwen (LQ) combined with western medicine therapy is beneficial to coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), but there is still a lack of strong evidence-based. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of LQ combined with western medicine for patients with COVID-19. Seven databases (Chinese and English) were searched by two independent reviewers. Search for relevant keywords such as “Chinese medicine,” “Chinese herbal medicine,” and “Lianhua Qingwen” in the titles and abstracts of articles retrieved in the databases. Randomized controlled trials or case-control studies that reported sufficient data of participants before and after the intervention were included. Two researchers independently reviewed the studies and extracted the data. Fixed-or random-effect model was used to calculate the overall pooled risk estimates. Forest plots were generated to show pooled results. Seven studies involving 916 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, compared with the control group, the total efficacy (OR = 2.23, 95% CI 1.56, 3.18), adverse events (OR = 0.42, 95% CI 0.18, 0.97), chest computed tomography manifestations (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.12, 2.72), and aggravation rate of conversion to severe cases (OR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.30, 0.75) of the intervention group were better. Moreover, the intervention group has an advantage over the control group in improving clinical symptoms (fever, cough, fatigue, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and expectoration) and shortening the fever duration (p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that LQ combined with western medicine may be more effective in treating COVID-19. However, due to the urgency of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks leading to low methodological quality and not rigorous designs. This meta-analysis cannot draw clear conclusions. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020190757

Practices, Knowledge, and Attitudes of Chinese University Students Toward Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine for the Control of COVID-19

“… 23 Based on TCM theory, three Chinese patent medicines (including Lianhua Qingwen Capsule, Jinhua Qinggan Granules, and Xuebijing Injection) as well as three herbal prescriptions (including Xuanfeibaidu Recipe, Huashi Paidu Recipe, and Qingfei Paidu Decoction) have been identified to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and to treat COVID-19. 8 So far, more and more clinical evidences have suggested the inspiring effectiveness and safety of these prescriptions of Chinese herbs such as Qingfei Paidu Decoction, 21 , 22 Lianhua Qingwen Capsule 24 , 25 and Huashi Paidu Recipe 26 in controlling COVID-19. Moreover, the potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 characteristics of some single Chinese herbs particularly attracted increasing interest of scientists.…”

Impact of Lianhua Qingwen on viral shedding in omicron mild/asymtomatic patients: a real-world study

“…Conversely, another study encompassing a large adult population of 4,918 cases demonstrated that the LHQW treatment group exhibited improvements in the nucleic acid conversion rate ( 19 ). Numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses have underscored the substantial efficacy of LHQW in the treatment of COVID-19 ( 14 , 15 , 22 ), reporting enhancements in clinical symptoms and a reduction in the progression to severe or critical conditions, but they did not specifically monitor VS. The most notable difference between our study and these prior investigations lies in the diverse endpoints used to evaluate LHQW efficacy, as well as the distinct populations of interest under study.…”

Recuperative herbal formula Jing Si maintains vasculature permeability balance, regulates inflammation and assuages concomitants of “Long-Covid”

“…On the other hand, pleiotropic and multi-targeted Chinese herbal medicine has great potential in assisting the development of new treatments for improving depression systemically. Various studies on COVID-19 treatment approaches have shown TCMs as an effective complementary therapy along with conventional treatment by reducing the hospitalization period, easing symptoms, decreasing mortality and relieving adverse reactions [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] . Extracts from Artemisia species like A. annua , A. afra , A. argyi have shown alleviating effects on COVID symptoms regulate innate and adaptive immunity [33] , [34] , [35] .…”