Xuebijing injection in the treatment of COVID-19: a retrospective case-control study

Abstract

Background: Neither a vaccine nor specific therapeutic drugs against 2019 novel coronavirus have been developed. Some studies have shown that Xuebijing injection (XBJ) can exert an anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and other cytokines.This study aimed to investigate the effect of XBJ on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its effects on IL-6 and tumor necrosis alpha TNF-α.Methods: A total of 42 patients, who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and treated with XBJ combined with routine treatment at Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital between January 20, 2020, and March 11, 2020, were selected as the observation group. A control group comprising 16 patients who received routine treatment was also established, and cases were matched from the observation group on a 1:1 basis according to age, comorbidities, and mild and severe disease. The clinical symptoms, laboratory test indexes, and changes in computed tomography (CT) scans of patients in the two groups were observed at the time of admission and 7 days after treatment, and the time taken for the patients to produce a negative nucleic acid test was also recorded.Results: There were no significant differences in baseline data between the two groups. After treatment, there were significant improvements in IL-6 levels and body temperature in the observation group as compared with the control group. Particularly in severe patients, the reduction in body temperature in the observation group was greater than that in the control group (P<0.05). A higher number of patients in the observation group showed improved CT imaging results compared with the control group, and the time taken to produce a negative nucleic acid test was shorter in the observation group than in the control group;

The effect of Chinese herbal medicine on digestive system and liver functions should not be neglected in COVID‐19: An updated systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…In total, we analyzed 48 studies 3–7,20–60 recruiting 4,704 patients with COVID‐19. Of these, 29 20,22–29,31,34–36,39,40,49–62 were observational studies with a control group, and 19 3–7,30,32,33,37,38,41–48,63 were RCTs included in the final analysis. Of these participants, 2,696 had been assigned to receive CHM as an adjuvant medicine, and 2,008 receive standard pharmacotherapy.…”

“…The other 13 studies 5–7,32,33,37,38,41–46 did not mention the blinding of patients and personnel. Table 3 showed the NOS details for 29 observational studies 20,22–29,31,34–36,39,40,49–62 . Eight observational studies 20,22,24,26,34,49,50,57 were judged to be of moderate methodologic quality, subject to the unsatisfying risk of bias mostly owing to the lack of adequacy of follow up and completing accounting for observational studies.…”

“…Twelve studies explored the rate of diarrhea remission after the use of CHM for COVID‐19. Six of them 6,7,32,37,47,63 were RCTs, and six of them 20,25,28,29,34,49 were controlled observational studies. Of the total 187 COVID‐19 patients with diarrhea, 96 received CHM along with standard pharmacotherapy and 91 received only standard pharmacotherapy.…”

“…Time to viral assay conversion was reported by 19 studies including 13 controlled observational studies 26,34,40,49,51–57,59,61 and six RCTs 3,5,41,44–46 . Of the total 1,349 COVID‐19 patients included, 712 received CHM along with standard pharmacotherapy and 637 received only standard pharmacotherapy.…”

Xuebijing inhibit inflammation, oxidative stress and promote apoptosis in human synovial cells via inhibition of MEK1/2 and NF-ĸB pathway

“…It also attenuates pulmonary injury by reducing oxidative stress and proinflammatory damage in rats with heat stroke (Chen et al, 2017). In a recent study, it showed benificial effect against inflammatory markers and disease outcome of coronavirus disease 2019 (Guo et al, 2020;Long et al, 2020). The main pharmacological effects of XueBiJing might be summarized as follows: (1) antagonizing endotoxin; (2) inhibiting inflammatory cytokines; (3) decreasing oxidative stress; (4) regulating immune function; (5) improving the balance of coagulation; (6) protecting organ damage.…”