Objective To systematically review the effectiveness and safety of Tanreqing for curing the hand-foot-mouth disease. Methods Such databases as PubMed, EMbase, CENTRAL, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data are electronically searched to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effectiveness and safety of Tanreqing for hand-foot-mouth disease till February 2013. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature was screened, data were extracted, and the methodological quality of included studies was also assessed. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2.7 software. Results Twelve RCTs on Tanreqing versus ribavirin involving 1 258 cases and 27 RCTs on Tanreqing plus ribavirin versus ribavirin involving 3 289 cases were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared to ribavirin, Tanreqing has higher total efficiency in the treatment of hand-foot-mouth disease (OR=5.03, 95%CI 3.28 to 7.71, Plt;0.000 01), cooling time (MD= –1.09, 95%CI –1.51 to –0.68, Plt;0.000 01), simplex regression time (MD= –0.90, 95%CI –1.20 to –0.60, Plt;0.000 01), and healing time (MD= –1.76, 95%CI –2.52 to –0.99, Plt;0.000 01), with significant differences. Compared to ribavirin, the group of Tanreqing plus ribavirin has higher total efficiency on treatment of hand-foot-mouth disease (OR=5.32, 95%CI 4.02 to 7.06, Plt;0.000 01), cooling time (MD= –1.32, 95%CI –1.63 to –1.01, Plt;0.000 01), simplex regression time (MD= –0.5, 95%CI –0.98 to –0.2, Plt;0.000 01), and healing time (MD= –1.41, 95%CI –1.83 to –0.98, Plt;0.000 01), with significant differences. The results of indirect comparative analysis showed that, there was no significant difference in the treatment options of Tanreqing plus ribavirin and Tanreqing alone concerning total efficiency, cooling time, simplex regression time, and healing time. Conclusion The study shows that Tanreqing alone and Tanreqing plus ribavirin are similar for curing the hand-foot-mouth disease, and both groups have better clinical effectiveness than ribavirin alone.
Objective To formulate an evidence-based treatment plan for a patient with hepatitis C after kidney transplantation with combination of interferon-α and ribavirin. Methods Based on an adequate assessment of the patient’ s condition and using the principle of PICO, we searched The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2009), PubMed (1995 to March 2009), and CHKD (1995 to 2008.12). Results Eighteen studies were identified including 17 in English (5 case reports, 11 cohort studies, and 1 meta–analysis) and 1 in Chinese. According to the current evidence as well as the patient’ s clinical condition and preference, PEG-IFNα-2b 50 µg /week plus ribavirin 600 mg/day was given to the patient for 6 months. Conclusion Evidence-based approaches help us to prepare the anti-viral therapy plan and will improve the assessment of the efficacy and safety in kidney transplantation.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of autoantibody on the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferonα-2a (Peg-IFNα-2a) and ribavirin on chronic hepatitis C (HCV). MethodsWe enrolled 106 chronic HCV infected patients, who were divided into autoantibody-positive group and negative group based on the baseline autoantibody detection. The patients were treated for 48 weeks. The anti-viral response and adverse effects were observed. Data analyses were reported using the SPSS 20.0 statistical package. ResultsThe prevalence of any autoantibody in chronic hepatitis C patients amounted to 31.1%, and serum anti-nuclear antibody was positive in 24 patients. Difference in age, sex, serum alanine transaminase level, aspartate transaminase level, total bilirubin level, thyroid function and HCV RNA level between autoantibody-positive group and negative group was not significant (P > 0.05). The level of hemoglobin in autoantibody-positive group was significantly lower than the negative group (P=0.018). Of the 106 patients, 82 patients achieved sustained virological response (SVR), 56 achieved rapid virological response (RVR), 98 achieved ealy virological response (EVR) and 8 were non-responders. There were no significant differences between RVR, EVR and SVR in autoantibody-positive group and negative group (P > 0.05). The most common adverse effects in this study were fatigue, weight loss, hair loss and fever, and no significant differences in adverse effects were observed between the two groups (P > 0.05). ConclusionAutoantibody positivity may not affect the treatment response and is safe in chronic HCV infected patients with combination therapy of pegylated interferonα-2a plus ribavirin.