Oral ginseng formulae for stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review

• Published in: Respiratory medicine Vol. 105; no. 2; pp. 165 - 176
• Main Authors: An, Xuedong, Zhang, Anthony Lin, Yang, Angela Weihong, Lin, Lin, Wu, Darong, Guo, Xinfeng, Shergis, Johannah Linda, Thien, Francis Chung Kong, Worsnop, Christopher J, Xue, Charlie Changli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2011; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Bias; Biological and medical sciences; Chinese herbal medicine; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma; Clinical trials; Confidence intervals; COPD; Disease; Drug therapy; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume - drug effects; Forced Expiratory Volume - physiology; Free radicals; Ginseng formulae; Humans; Intervention; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Mortality; Panax; Phytotherapy; Plant Preparations - therapeutic use; Pneumology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - drug therapy; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - physiopathology; Pulmonary/Respiratory; Quality of Life; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Surveys and Questionnaires; Systematic review; Australia; China; RR; GOLD; The global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease; CI; St. George’s respiratory questionnaire; Systematic review; CHM; Mean difference; Confidence interval; Qol; Quality of life; Randomized controlled trials; Forced expiratory volume in 1 second; Ginseng formulae; FEV 1; Risk ratio; SGRQ; RCTs; MD; Chinese herbal medicine; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; COPD; Lung disease; Respiratory disease; Oral administration; Review; Medicine; Chronic; Bronchus disease; Chinese; Obstructive pulmonary disease; Bibliographic review; Pneumology
• ISSN: 0954-6111; 1532-3064
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2010.11.007

Summary Ginseng alone or combined with other herbs has been increasingly used for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of oral Ginseng formulae for stable COPD. Four English databases and three Chinese databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials. Methodological quality was assessed by Cochrane risk of bias and Jadad’s scale. Data were analyzed using Review Manager 5.0. Twelve studies overall of low quality, involving 1560 participants were included. Results of three studies showed a mean difference (MD) of 0.30 (95%CI 0.02 to 0.58) for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 ) improvement of Ginseng formulae versus placebo control. Findings of three studies revealed an MD of 9.43 (95%CI 3.64 to 15.21) of FEV1 % predicted between Ginseng formulae and placebo control. Quality of life (Qol) measured by St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire was improved (MD −10.32, 95%CI −14.99 to −5.65) with Ginseng formulae plus pharmacotherapy versus pharmacotherapy alone in one study. There were no severe adverse events reported. Ginseng formulae for stable COPD patients show promising evidence of lung functions and Qol improvement. However, the degree of benefit is uncertain due to potential risk of bias of the included studies.