Effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal formula combined with western medicine for ankylosing spondylitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: Medicine (Baltimore) 2021-06, Vol.100 (25), p.e26374-e26374
• Main Authors: Liu, Miao, Deng, Xiao-Lei, Yu, Jing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Inflammatory Agents - administration & dosage; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - adverse effects; Antirheumatic Agents - administration & dosage; Antirheumatic Agents - adverse effects; Drug Therapy, Combination - adverse effects; Drug Therapy, Combination - methods; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - administration & dosage; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - adverse effects; Humans; Immunosuppressive Agents - administration & dosage; Immunosuppressive Agents - adverse effects; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Spondylitis, Ankylosing - drug therapy; Spondylitis, Ankylosing - immunology; Study Protocol Systematic Review; Systematic Reviews as Topic; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0025-7974; 1536-5964
• DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000026374

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease of the spine, which mainly invades the sacroiliac joint, spine, and large joints near the trunk, leading to fibrous and skeletal ankylosis and deformity, and can cause damage to the eyes, lung, cardiovascular, kidney and other organs. Chinese herbal formulas (CHF) is an important interventions of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and CHFs combined with western medicine are widely used in clinical practice to treat AS. Eight databases will be systematically retrieved from their inceptions to March 2021. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CHFs combined with western medicine for AS treatment will meet the inclusion criteria. The primary outcomes we focus on include clinical effectiveness rate, TCM syndrome score, TCM symptom score, Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI), chest expansion, nocturnal spinal pain, adverse reactions, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C protein response (CRP). The research screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment will be performed independently by 2 researchers, and divergence will be solved by a third researcher. Revman 5.3 software will be used for meta-analysis. The confidence of evidence will be graded using grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) algorithm and methodological quality will be assessed adopting risk of bias in systematic reviews (ROBIS). This systematic review (SR) will provide evidence-based medical evidence for AS therapy by CHF combined with western medicine and we will submit the findings of this SR for peer-review publication. This SR will provide latest and updated summary proof for assessing the effectiveness and safety of CHF combined with western medicine for AS. INPLASY 202150089.