Chinese patent medicine in the treatment of Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The growing prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) drives the need for better therapies. Chinese patent medicines (CPMs) can complement conventional western medicine (CWM) in treating PD, but their variety complicates clinical choices. This study systematically ranks CPMs combined with CWM to guide treatment decisions.

METHODS

We systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CPM for the treatment of PD in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, China Weipu Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from the establishment of the database to January 2nd, 2025. R 4.4.2 and Stata 14.0 software were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

We analyzed 35 RCTs comprising 3281 patients and 11 CPMs. Among the CPMs evaluated, Bushen Huoxue capsules (BSHX) showed higher total effective rates, while Tianma Gouteng granules (TMGT) led in reducing Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) total scores and improving Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) performance. Zishen Pingchan granules (ZSPC) were most effective in improving the Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) score. Qishen Huanwu capsules (QSHW) excelled in reducing cystatin C (Cys-C) and homocysteine (Hcy). Xifeng Dingchan pills (XFDC) maximized superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and Tiandan Tongluo capsules (TDTL) lowered malondialdehyde (MDA) levels.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated the efficacy of combining CPMs with CWM for PD, identifying QSHW and TMGT as the optimal CPMs. QSHW markedly reduced Hcy and Cys-C levels, and TMGT improved MMSE and UPDRS scores. However, their personalized application necessitates validation in large-scale RCTs.