Is Yangxue Qingnao Granule Combined with Antihypertensive Drugs, a New Integrative Medicine Therapy, More Effective Than Antihypertensive Therapy Alone in Treating Essential Hypertension?

Abstract

Background. Yangxue Qingnao granule (YQG) combined with antihypertensive drugs, a new integrative medicine therapy, has been widely used for essential hypertension (EH) in China. This study aims to assess the current clinical evidence of YQG combined with antihypertensive drugs for EH. Methods. Randomized controlled trials(RCTs) published between 1996 and 2012 on YQG combined with antihypertensive drugs versus antihypertensive drugs in treating EH were retrieved from six major electronic databases, including The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Wanfang Data. Meta-analysis was performed on the overall effects on blood pressure. Results. Twelve randomized trials were included. Methodological quality of the trials was evaluated as generally low. Meta-analysis showed that YQG combined with antihypertensive drugs demonstrated potential effect for lowing either SBP (MD: −7.31 [−11.75, −2.87]; P = 0.001) or DBP (MD: −5.21 [−8.19, −2.24]; P = 0.0006) compared to antihypertensive drugs alone. Conclusions. It indicated that YQG combined with antihypertensive drugs is more effective than antihypertensive drugs alone in treating EH. However, more RCTs of larger scale, multicentre/country, longer follow-up periods, and higher quality are required to verify the efficacy of integrative medicine therapy over all antihypertensive therapies.

Trends in the Treatment of Hypertension from the Perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine

“…In our previous studies, we also demonstrated the potential effect of Chinese herbs and formulas on decreasing blood pressure, protecting target organs, regulating rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, reversing risk factors, and improving endothelial function, although their effects on BP were inferior to CCB, ACEI, ARB, and other common used western medicines [16, 51, 127]. Furthermore, as a special form of Chinese herbs and formulas, Chinese patent drugs are commonly used in the treatment of hypertension in clinic, including Niuhuang Jiangya Pill, QingGan JiangYa Capsule, and Yangxue Qingnao Granule [128, 129]. They have also played an important role in the treatment of hypertension.…”

Chinese herbal formulas for treating hypertension in traditional Chinese medicine: perspective of modern science

“…22, 23 An increasing number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been conducted to assess the efficiency of TCM for treating hypertension, providing the best evidence supporting the use of TCM for patients who suffer from hypertension. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 The majority of these studies have positive findings that favor the practice of TCM. These studies reveal the multi-protective mechanisms of Chinese herbal formulas for treating hypertension.…”

Traditional Chinese Medicine for Essential Hypertension: A Clinical Evidence Map

“…Forty-three SRs (quality range = 2–8) included SBP as an outcome measure, 38 SRs (quality range = 2–9) included DBP as an outcome measure, 20 SRs (quality range = 2–8) included total effective rate as an outcome measure, and 18 SRs (quality range = 4–9) included TCM-SSD scores as an outcome measure. There are significant differences in the effect of CHM plus antihypertensive drugs for lowering SBP ( n = 35, 81.4%) [ 6 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 58 , 61 , 62 , 64 , 65 , 67 – 69 , 78 , 80 , 92 , 93 , 95 , 96 , 99 , 101 , 102 , 114 , 117 – 127 ], lowering DBP ( n = 26, 68.4%) [ 6 , 41 , 45 , 46 , 58 , 61 , 62 , 64 , 68 , 69 , 78 , 80 , 93 , 95 , 101 , 102 , 119 , 121 – 126 ], improving total effective rate ( n = 18, 90.0%) [ 58 , 76 , 82 , 83 , 99 , 103 , 107 , 108 , 111 , 112 , 114 , 121 , 122 , 126 , 128 – 131 ], and lowering TCM-SSD scores ( n = 17, 94.4%) [ 7 ,…”