Preventive effect and safety of Chinese herbal medicine mouthwash in chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

Background:Oral mucositis (OM), one of the most common side effects for cancer patients who have undergone chemotherapy, can cause severe impairment to patients’ functional ability and impact their quality of life, resulting in delayed and/or incomplete treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine offers empirical herbal decoctions to gargle for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced OM; however, evidence for its clinical efficacy and safety is lacking. Therefore, we provide a protocol to evaluate the preventive effect and safety of Chinese herbal medicine mouthwash in chemotherapy-induced OM.Methods:We will comprehensively retrieve relevant articles published till August 15, 2020, in the following electronic databases: the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Science and Technique Journals Database, and the Wan-fang Database. Only randomized controlled trials will be included. We will use the criteria provided by the Cochrane Handbook for quality assessment and risk assessment of the included studies and use the RevMan 5.3 software for meta-analysis of the preventive effect and safety.Results:This study will assess the preventive effect and safety of Chinese herbal medicine mouthwash in chemotherapy-induced OM.Conclusion:This systematic review will provide evidence-based medical corroboration for the clinical application of the Chinese herbal medicine mouthwash in chemotherapy-induced OM.PROSPERO registration number:CRD42020206614.     

Chinese herbal medicine for previous cesarean scar defect: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Previous cesarean scar defect (PCSD) is a gynecological disease that can cause bleeding after intercourse, prolonging menstrual period, intermenstrual bleeding, dysmenorrhea, and even lead to infertility. Chinese herbal medicine plays an important role in the treatment of gynecological diseases in China and East Asia. This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine for PCSD.Methods: We search the following databases: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CB), Chinese Science and Technique Journals Database (VIP), EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), and the Wanfang Database. Other sources will also be searched like Google Scholar and gray literature. All databases mentioned above are searched from the start date to the latest version. Randomized controlled trials will be included which recruiting PCSD participants to assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicines against controls (placebo or other therapeutic agents). Primary outcomes will include the size of PCSD, menstrual cycle, menstrual phase, menstrual volume, duration of disease, security index. Two authors will independently scan the searched articles, extract the data from attached articles, and import them into Endnote X8 and use Microsoft Excel 2013 to manage data and information. We will assess the risk of bias by Cochrane tool of risk of bias. Disagreements will be resolved by consensus or the participation of a third party. All analysis will be performed based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The meta-analysis in this review will use RevMan 5.3 software.Results: The study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the treatment that Chinese herbal medicine for PCSD.Conclusion: This study of the meta-analysis could provide evidence for clinicians and help patients to make a better choice.INPLASY registration number:INPLASY202090080     

The effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine for tic disorders in children and adolescents: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

Background:The tic disorders are common neuropsychiatric disorders that affects the growth and development of children and adolescents. Chinese herbal medicine is commonly used for the treatment of tic disorders. However, there is no consensus on the difference in clinical efficacy compared with routine treatment. Therefore, we plan to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to review the clinical efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine for tic disorders.Methods:Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Bio-medical Database, and Wanfang database will be searched from their inception until March 31, 2021. The meta-analysis will be conducted with Review Manager 5.3 software to systematically review the clinical efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine for tic disorders. The primary outcome will include the improvement rate (amount) of tic symptoms using related scales or methods, and the secondary outcome will include adverse events.Results:This analysis will provide useful information about clinical efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine for tic disorders.Conclusions:Our study will generate strong evidence of Chinese herbal medicine for patients with tic disorders and provide suggestions for clinical practice.     

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined Chinese herbal medicine for diabetic peripheral neuropathy: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine has been widely utilized for pain management in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). However, its results are still inconsistent, and no systematic review has specifically addressed this issue. Thus, this systematic review will comprehensively and systematically investigate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine for pain relief in DPN.Methods:Randomized controlled trials on acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine treatment of DPN published before September of 2021 will be searched in 9 databases including Medline, Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica Database, Sinomed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, and China Science and Technology Journal Database. The methodological assessment performed using the risk of bias assessment tool of Cochrane, and the level of evidence quality for the main results will be evaluated by a recommended grading, evaluation, formulation, and evaluation system approach. Bayesian network meta-analysis will be conducted using STATA V.14.0 and WinBUGS V.1.4.3.Results:This study will provide a high-quality comprehensive evaluation of the safety of acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine for treating DPN.Conclusion:This systematic review will evaluate the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine combined with acupuncture in the treatment of DPN, and provide the latest evidence for clinical application.Ethics and dissemination:The protocol of the systematic review does not require ethical approval because it does not involve humans. This article will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant conferences.Registration number: INPLASY2021100004.     

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease (CHD): A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis

Background:Coronary heart disease (CHD) angina pectoris is a clinical syndrome in which episodic chest pain or chest discomfort is the main manifestation of temporary ischemia and hypoxia of the myocardium due to coronary atherosclerosis and coronary artery functional changes (spasm). A large amount of clinical evidence confirms that acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of CHD and angina pectoris can relieve the symptoms of angina pectoris and improve the performance of electrocardiograph ischemia; It still has obvious therapeutic effects in regulating the levels of cardiovascular regulatory peptides ET and cGRP. To better evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of CHD and angina pectoris, we designed a systematic evaluation program to provide a reliable scientific basis for the future use of this method.Methods:Search Pubmed database, Embase, Cochrane library, Chinese Biomedical Literature CD-ROM Database (CBMdisk), China Journal Network Full-text Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, Web of Science (SCI-E), the retrieval time is established from each database Until October 2021, search for relevant eligible randomized controlled trials with keywords or subject terms “acupuncture”, “Chinese herbal medicine”, and “CHD angina”. Outcome indicators were clinical symptoms of CHD and angina pectoris, changes in electrocardiogram, changes in blood lipids, and significant improvement in traditional Chinese medicine syndromes before and after treatment. Two researchers independently carried out data extraction and quality assessment, and use RevMan5.3 software to carry out final data analysis and assessment.Results:This study provides a reliable clinical scientific basis for acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of CHD and angina pectoris.Conclusion:Acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine can effectively relieve the clinical symptoms of CHD and angina pectoris and improve the performance of electrocardiograph. At the same time, it can reduce the cardiovascular regulatory peptide ET and increase the level of cGRP in the patient''s plasma, thus confirming its effectiveness and safety.     

Efficacy of acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of chronic nephritis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Chronic nephritis is a common kidney disease that afflicts people worldwide. The disease has main manifestations of proteinuria, hematuria, edema, and hypertension that are associated with kidney-damaging processes that eventually lead to kidney failure. Traditional Chinese medicine involving combination treatment with herbal remedies and acupuncture has been shown clinically to alleviate chronic nephritis, although to date no systematic review of the efficacy of this combination treatment for this purpose has been reported, prompting this study. Here we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized clinical trials to scientific evidence and credible medical references supporting the clinical efficacy of this combination treatment when used to treat chronic nephritis.Methods:We will search the following 8 electronic Chinese and English databases: Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Scientific Journal Database, and the Wanfang database. All electronic databases will be searched from inception to October 10, 2021. All statistical analyses will be performed using Review Manager Version 5.4 provided by the Cochrane Collaboration Network.Results:The protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis will be applied to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of chronic nephritis.Conclusion:We plan to submit the results of this research to a peer-reviewed journal.INPLASY registration number:INPLASY2021100051.     

Acupuncture combined with Tongxieyaofang for diarrhea-type irritable bowel syndrome: A protocol for meta-analysis

Background:As a traditional Chinese medicine external treatment method, acupuncture is characterized by simple operation, significant treatment effect and few side effects. Tong-Xie-Yao-Fang (TXYF), a Chinese patent medicine, combined with acupuncture has been widely used on treating Diarrhea Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS-D). However, the efficacy and safety of TXYF combined with acupuncture for the treatment of IBS-D are unclear. This study aims to investigate verify the efficacy and safety of TXYF combined with acupuncture for IBS-D.Methods and analysis:Randomized controlled trials of TXYF combined with acupuncture for all IBS-D will be searched in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database from inception to October 20, 2020. And Baidu Scholar, Google Scholar, International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and Chinese Clinical Trials Registry will be searched to obtain more relevant studies comprehensively. The methodological qualities, including the risk of bias, will be evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool, while confidence in the cumulative evidence will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Two researchers will perform data extraction and risk of bias assessment independently. Statistical analysis will be conducted in RevMan 5.3.Results:Based on the current evidence, the potential rank of the efficacy and safety of TXYF plus acupuncture for IBS-D will be assessed.Conclusion:The findings of the study will provide helpful evidence for the efficacy and safety of TXYF combined with acupuncture in the treatment of IBS-D, facilitating clinical practice and further scientific studies.     

Different Chinese herbal medicine therapy for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: A protocol for systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis

Background:Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a common immune system and blood system disease in clinical practice, and it is a hemorrhagic disease caused by immune factors causing platelet destruction and decreasing number of platelets. There is currently no effective treatment plan for ITP. At this stage, glucocorticoid and gamma globulin are mostly used in the treatment of ITP, and some patients use splenectomy to achieve therapeutic purposes, but the various treatment methods are inadequate. At this stage, a large number of randomized controlled studies have reported that Chinese herbal medicine has achieved good curative effect in the treatment of ITP. However, due to the variety of Chinese herbal medicine, there has been no evidence of the effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of ITP. Because of the above reasons, this study uses the network meta-analysis method based on Bayesian method to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of different kinds of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of ITP through direct and indirect comparison, in order to provide evidence-based medical support for the treatment of ITP with Chinese herbal medicine.Methods:This study uses the method of combining free words with theme words, and using computer to retrieve PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, WANFANG Database, CNKI, and VIP Database, etc, to collect the randomized control studies on Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of ITP. The retrieval time is from the establishment of each database to January 2021, and the retrieval languages are Chinese and English. Two researchers independently read the title, abstract and full text of the article to determine whether it is included in the literature; In the event of a disagreement, a third researcher will join the discussion to resolve the disagreement; For the literature that lacks information, trying to contact the original author of the document to supplement it. The literature quality evaluation carried out by using the Stata 14.0 software to draw network and funnel plots, in accordance with the quality evaluation criteria of version 5.1.0 of the Cochrane System Evaluation Manual. Statistical analysis is performed by using ADDIS 1.16.8 software based on the Bayesian model.Results:This study will compare the clinical efficacy and safety of different types of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura through the method of network meta-analysis, and rank the different types of Chinese herbal medicine according to their effectiveness, and the results will be published in a peer-reviewed, high-quality academic journal.Conclusion:This study will find effective and safe Chinese herbal medicine for clinical treatment of ITP from the perspective of evidence-based medicine, and benefit more ITP patients.     

The therapeutic efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine injection combined with low-molecular-weight heparin on the acute lower extremity deep venous thrombosis: A protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background:Lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (LEDVT) of lower extremities is one of the common clinical diseases. Lack of a timely treatment in the acute stage easily causes pulmonary embolism, thus seriously threatening patients’ life. Low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), as a new generation of heparin-based anticoagulant and antithrombotic drug, is now commonly used in the clinical treatment of acute lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (ALEDVT). Relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have reported the therapeutic efficacy and safety of Traditional Chinese medicine injection (TCMJ) combined with LMWH on ALDVT, although their conclusions remain controversial. In addition, the efficacy of various TCMJs has rarely been analyzed and compared. This study aims to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of TCMJ combined with LMWH on ALEDVT through a network meta-analysis.Methods:RCTs reporting TCMJ combined with LMWH and LMWH along for the treatment of ALEDVT published before November 2021 will be searched in online databases, including the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang, Chongqing VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure. Two investigators will be independently responsible for literature screening, data extraction, and quality evaluation according to Cochrane''s risk of bias assessment tool. R software will be used to perform a network Meta-analysis.Results:The results of this meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.Conclusion:This study will provide high-quality, evidence-based medical evidence for comparing the therapeutic efficacy and safety of TCMJ combined with LMWH and LMWH alone on ALEDVT.     

Evidence of Chinese herbal fumigation for knee osteoarthritis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is the most common cause of musculoskeletal pain and disability worldwide. Chinese herbal fumigation, an external therapy, is commonly used for the treatment of KOA, while there is no systematic review or meta-analysis designed to evaluate the effects of Chinese herbal fumigation on KOA.Methods:Seven databases including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang data, VIP, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database will be searched up to October 31, 2020. Data that meet the inclusion criteria will be extracted and analyzed by using RevMan V.5.3 software. Two reviewers will assess quality of the included studies based on the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. The funnel plot and Begg test will be used to evaluate publication bias. And Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation will be employed to assess the quality of evidence.Results:This study will provide high-quality evidence for Chinese herbal fumigation for the treatment of KOA in terms of effectiveness and safety.Conclusion:This systematic review will provide evidence to help us confirm the clinical efficacy of Chinese herbal fumigation in the treatment of KOA.     

Efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine injections combined with FOLFOX4 regimen for gastric cancer: A protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background:Traditional Chinese medicine injections (TCMJs) combined with FOLFOX4 regimen could achieve favorable effects in the treatment of gastric cancer. However, the efficacy and safety of different TCMJs combined with FOLFOX4 in the treatment of gastric cancer have not been fully clarified. Due to the fact that there are as many as 10 kinds of TCMJs, how to choose an appropriate TCMJ has become an urgent clinical problem. The objective of this network meta-analysis is to explore the optimal options among different TCMJs for gastric cancer.Methods:PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Embase, China Scientific Journal Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Wanfang Data were searched to identify randomized controlled trials which focused on TCMJs combined with FOLFOX4 against gastric cancer from its inception to September 2021. Subsequently, 2 researchers will be independently responsible for literature screening, data extraction, and assessment of their quality. Standard pair-wise and Bayesian network meta-analysis will be performed to compare the efficacy and safety of different TCMJs combined with FOLFOX4 regimen via Stata 14.0 and WinBUGS1.4 software.Results:The results of this meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.Conclusions:The conclusion of this systematic review will provide evidence for selecting an optimal TCMJ combined with FOLFOX4 for patients with gastric cancer.     

Efficacy and safety of colonic dialysis combined with traditional Chinese medicine retention enema in the treatment of chronic renal failure: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a major public health problem worldwide nowadays. It is characterized by a slow reduction in kidney function identified by an increase of serum creatinine levels and a reduction of urine output. CRF is easier to diagnose than to treat. Clinical evidence shows that colonic dialysis combined with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) enema can treat CRF by reducing serum creatinine. To assess the therapeutic efficacy and safety of colonic dialysis combined with Traditional Chinese medicine retention enema in CRF, we created a protocol for a systematic review to inform future clinical applications.Methods:Eligible random controlled trials were collected from 8 bibliographic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, Wanfang Database), completed before October 2021. The primary outcome is the serum creatinine, Urea nitrogen, total effective rate, uric acid, creatinine clearance. Secondary outcome: TCM syndrome score, glomerular filtration rate, hemoglobin, adverse reactions, and adverse events. Data extraction and quality assessment were independently conducted by 2 researchers. The quality and bias of the data were assessed using RevMan5.4 software.Results:This study will provide a clinical basis for colonic dialysis combined with TCM retention enema in the treatment of CRF.Conclusion:Colonic dialysis combined with TCM retention enema in the treatment of CRF can delay the progression of renal disease, proving its effectiveness and safety.INPLASY Registration number:INPLASY2021100116     

Acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global health burden. However, there are no approved drugs for NAFLD. A number of studies have shown that acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) can be beneficial for NAFLD. However, high-quality trials are still lacking. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture combined with CHM for NAFLD.Methods:Eight electronic databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific and Technical Journals Database, and Wan-fang Database from inception to November 2021 will be searched. We will also search for Clinical Trials Registry Platforms as a supplement. Randomized controlled trials on acupuncture combined with CHM for NAFLD will be included. Literature screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were independently conducted by 2 reviewers. All differences between the 2 reviewers will be discussed and resolved by a third reviewer. Revman5.3 software will be used for meta-analysis.Result:This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture combined with CHM for NAFLD.Conclusion:The findings of this study will provide more evidence to determine whether acupuncture combined with CHM for NAFLD is an effective and safe intervention for NAFLD.     

Traditional Chinese medicine for gouty arthritis: A protocol for meta-analysis

Background:Gouty arthritis (GA) is a chronic disease caused by monosodium urate crystal deposition. Repeated attacks of arthritis may lead to the deposition of urate to form gout stone, resulting in joint deformity and joint damage. Although GA is not fatal, it causes low work productivity and low quality of life. Western drug, such as febuxostat, colchicine, allopurinol, often cannot get satisfying curative effect, and may even lead to serious side effects, such as exfoliative dermatitis or uremia. However, the therapeutic effect of Traditional Chinese medicine is very satisfactory. The treatment effect of simiao powder, a Chinese patent medicine, combined with acupuncture was widely used on treatment of GA. Although it has been widely used in clinical practice, its relative effectiveness and safety have not been confirmed. Therefore, this study will use meta-analysis to verify the efficacy and safety of simiao powder combined with acupuncture in the treatment of GA.Methods:All randomized controlled trial of simiao powder combined with acupuncture for the treatment of RA from their inception 29 October, 2020 will be searched form the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library. Two authors will independently select studies, extract data based on pre-designed inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality assessment and risk of bias will be assessed using Cochrane bias risk tool. All data analysis will be conducted using Revman5.3, WinBUGS 1.4.3, and Stata14.2 software.Results:We will compare the different outcome indicators of various studies to provide a synthesis of the efficacy and safety of Simiao powder combined with acupuncture for GA patients. The main outcome measures included efficacy, remission rate (no drug symptoms), recurrence rate, clinical absolute score and relative score. Secondary outcome measures included related adverse reactions and uric acid concentration.Conclusion:The findings of the study will provide helpful evidence for the efficacy and safety of simiao powder combined with acupuncture in the treatment of GA.Registration number:This study protocol have been funded through a protocol registry. The registry number is INPLASY2020110028     

Comparative efficacy and safety of wenxin granule combined with antiarrhythmic drugs for atrial fibrillation: A protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background:The combination of Chinese patent medicine Wenxin Granules (WXG) and antiarrhythmic drugs has been widely used in the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), but the results are controversial. This study will conduct a network meta-analysis (NMA) based on data from randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of WXG combined with ADDs (amiodarone, metoprolol, propafenone, bisoprolol, or other antiarrhythmic drugs) in the treatment of AF, which will perform comparisons or rankings of efficacy among the currently available therapeutic schemes in order to provide evidence to determine the optimal threshold and treatment regimen to AF patients.Methods and analysis:A comprehensive systematic literature search will be conducted in Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (SinoMed), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and WanFang database for randomized controlled trials about the WXG with ADDs. The NMA will be conducted following the PRISMA-NMA guidelines. Statistical analyses will be conducted by using Stata software (version 14.0) and RevMan software (version 5.3).Results:The results of this NMA will provide a high-quality evidence for the efficacy of WXG combined with ADDs in the treatment of AF, and a ranking of the therapeutic classes will also be presented.Conclusion:The protocol will provide updated evidence for the application of WXG for AF.     

Chinese herbal medicine for hypertension complicated with hyperlipidemia: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Hypertension combined with hyperlipidemia (HTN-HLP), as a common clinical chronic disease combination, will increase the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, increase the occurrence of sudden death and other adverse events. At present, the commonly used therapeutic drugs are mainly combined with antihypertensive drugs and lipid-lowering drugs, which not only have poor compliance, but also have adverse reactions. Currently, traditional Chinese medicine, as a traditional medicine in China, has been applied in clinical practice for thousands of years and has rich clinical experience in treating HTN-HLP. However, there is no systematic evaluation of the efficacy, safety and improvement of patients’ quality of life. This systematic review and meta-analysis will assess studies of the effects and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for HTN-HLP patients.Methods:We will search PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science (ISI), China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan fang Database, Chinese Scientific Journals Full-Text Database (VIP) and China Biological Medicine Database from the time when databases were established to 01, February 2021. After a series of screening, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will be included related to CHM for HTN-HLP. Two researchers will assess the RCTs through the Cochrane bias risk assessment tool. And the evidence grade of the results will be evaluated by GRADEprofiler software.Results:This study will provide a reliable evidence for the efficiency of antihypertensive and reducing blood lipids of CHM for HTN-HLP.Conclusion:We will summarize the methods and provide sufficient evidence to confirm the efficacy and safety of CHM for HTN-HLP.INPLASY registration number:INPLASY2020110144.     

Comparison of the effect of traditional Chinese medicine injection combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone on the prognosis,quality of life and immune function in patients with ovarian carcinoma: A protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background:The effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in assisting the reduction of the toxic effects of chemotherapy and enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy is gradually being recognized. Traditional Chinese medicine injection (TCMJ) has been widely used as a promising adjuvant drug in the treatment of ovarian carcinoma. However, the exact clinical efficacy and safety of TCMJ have not been well studied due to the wide variety. This study aims to conduct a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about comparing the effect of TCMJ combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone on the treatment of ovarian cancer, thus summarizing the effects of TCMJ on the prognosis, quality of life and immune function of ovarian carcinoma patients, and providing a reference for developing therapeutic regimens for ovarian carcinoma.Methods:Randomized controlled trials reporting the effect of TCMJ combined with chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone on the prognosis, quality of life and immune function in patients with ovarian carcinoma published before September 2021 will be screened out from online databases like PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Embase, China Scientific Journal Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Wanfang Database. Subsequently, 2 researchers will be independently responsible for literature screening, data extraction and assessment of their quality. All data will be processed by R.4.1.0.Results:The results of this meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.Conclusions:Evidence-based medicine supports the efficacy and safety of TCMJ combined with chemotherapy for the treatment of ovarian carcinoma, which is better than that of chemotherapy alone.Ethics and dissemination:Ethical approval was not required for this study. The systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal, presented at conferences, and shared on social media platforms.OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER:DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/P93VJ.     

Oral administration of East Asian herbal medicine for rheumatoid arthritis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory, and painful joint disease. The aim of this review is to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral administration East Asian herbal medicine monotherapy for inflammatory pain of RA, and to explore core herb material information based on collected data.Methods:A comprehensive literature search will be conducted in 11 electronic databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature, Excerpta Medica database, Korean Studies Information Service System, Research Information Service System Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Korea Citation Index, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Wanfang data, citation information by NII for randomized controlled trials from their inception until October 13, 2021. Statistical analysis will be performed in the software R version 4.1.1. and R studio program using the default settings of the “meta” and “metafor” package. When heterogeneity in studies is detected, the cause will be identified through subgroup analysis. Methodological quality will be assessed independently using the revised tool for risk of bias in randomized trials (Rob 2.0).Results:This study will provide more comprehensive and specific evidence of East Asian herbal medicine monotherapy for RA pain management.Conclusions:Based on the results of this review, it is expected that the efficacy and safety of East Asian herbal medicine for inflammatory pain of RA may be confirmed. In addition, it will be possible to derivation of a core herb material information related to this research topic through additional data mining.Ethics and dissemination:There are no ethical issues as there are no primary data collected by directly recruiting subjects. The results of this review will be reported in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.PROSPERO registration number:CRD42021273643     

Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for adenomyosis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundAdenomyosis (AM) is a disease in which the endometrium (including glands and stroma) invades the myometrium and grows. The main clinical symptoms include menorrhagia, dysmenorrhea, chronic pelvic pain, metrorrhagia, and dyspareunia, which will seriously affect the physical and mental health of patients, and most of which occur in women of childbearing age. Acupuncture, as a special external treatment of Traditional Chinese medicine, has shown good effects in the treatment of adenomyosis. At present, there is a lack of systematic review on acupuncture in the treatment of adenomyosis. We conduct this study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of adenomyosis.MethodsWe will search Chinese and English databases: Medline, Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific and Journal Database, Wan Fang database (Wanfang), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) to identify articles of randomized clinical trials of acupuncture for adenomyosis. All above electronic databases will be searched from inception to September 30, 2021. RevMan 5.3 software will be used to conduct this systematic review. No language and publication status restrictions will be applied.ResultsThe study will prove the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for adenomyosis.ConclusionWe plan to submit this systematic review to a peer-reviewed journal.Trial registration numberCRD42021277136.