Objective To systematically review the effectiveness and safety interferon-α (IFN-α) combined with lamivudine vs. IFN-α alone in treating children with Hepatitis B. Methods Such databases as The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were electronically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on IFN-α combined with lamivudine in treating children with hepatitis B. Two reviewers screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0 software. Results 8 RCTs were included, with comparable baseline. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared to the IFN-α alone group, the combined therapy group had higher negative rates of serum HBV-DNA and HBeAg. There was no significant difference in the positive rate of anti-Hbe and the incidence of adverse reaction between the two groups. Conclusion Current evidence shows that IFN-α combined with lamivudine was more effective than IFN-α alone in treating children’s hepatitis B.
Objective To assess the effect of astragaulus membranaceus in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods Through applying the methods provided by the Cochrane Collaboration, the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs of astragaulus membranaceus in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis were searched in The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2010), CNKI (1991 to May 2010), VIP (1989 to May 2010), EMbase (1981 to May 2010), and PubMed (1981 to May 2010). Two reviewers independently screened the included studies, extracted the data, assessed the quality, and cross checked then. The RevMan 5.0 software was used to conduct meta-analyses. Results Twelve RCTs involving 1 054 patients were included. All trials were tested in the mainland China. The results of meta-analyses showed that: a) The astragaulus membranaceus could assist the conventional drug to cure pulmonary tuberculosis, promote sputum negative conversion, focal absorption and cavity reduction in lung; b) The astragaulus membranaceus could reduce the adverse reactions of the conventional drug; c) The astragaulus membranaceus combined with the conventional drug could improve the patients’ symptoms and signs; and d) The astragaulus membranaceus combined with the conventional drug could reduce the bacterial relapse rates in follow-up after treatment. Conclusion The current evidence shows that the astragaulus membranaceus has some effects and is relatively safe to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. However, it is far from enough to recommend astragaulus membranaceus as a conventional adjuvant therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis because of no sufficient evidence obtained from this study for its small sample and low methodology quality. Therefore, more double-blind multi-center RCTs with high quality, large sample, and adequate follow up are required for further verification.