Atherosclerosis (AS) is the main cause of ischemic cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular diseases. Macrophage activity has been proven to play a critical role during the AS pathological process, which involves the adhesion, aggregation of mononuclear-macrophages, cell differentiation of M1/M2 macrophages as part of complex mechanisms occurring during lipid metabolism, apoptosis, autophagy, inflammation and immune reaction. Therefore, the development of effective AS treatments is likely to target macrophage activity. Certain herbal extracts (such as Salvia miltiorrhiza) have exhibited enormous potential for AS treatment in the past. Here, we aim to provide a summary on the current understanding of the type of action and the underlying target/pathway in macrophage regulation of certain herbal extracts used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for treatment of AS.

Xiao Ai Ping injection (XAPI), extracted from the Chinese herbal medicine Marsdenia tenacissima, is widely used in the adjuvant treatment of tumors in China. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of XAPI combined with chemotherapy for treating patients with advanced gastric cancer. Seven databases were searched for relevant studies published up to October 1, 2018, and Review Manager 5.3 software and Stata 12.0 software were used for meta-analysis. Fourteen studies, representing 1097 enrolled patients, were included in our analysis. Compared with chemotherapy alone, combination treatment with XAPI and the XELOX regimen (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) was found to improve the objective response rate (ORR) [RR=1.36; 95%CI (1.10, 1.70); P=0.006], disease control rate (DCR) [RR=1.15; 95% CI (1.04, 1.28); P=0.010], and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) improvement rate [RR=1.51; 95%CI (1.14, 2.00); P=0.004] and to reduce the incidence of leukopenia [RR=0.68; 95%CI (0.55,0.84); P=0.0005], liver damage [RR=0.59; 95% CI (0.37, 0.92); P=0.02], renal impairment [RR=0.39; 95% CI (0.18, 0.85); P=0.02], and hand-foot syndrome [RR=0.56; 95%CI (0.35,0.90); P=0.02]. However, median progression-free survival (PFS), 1-year survival rate, and median overall survival (OS) were not extended by XAPI plus XELOX. Combination treatment with XAPI and the SOX regimen (tegafur plus oxaliplatin) did not improve ORR or DCR, but it did enhance the KPS improvement rate [RR=1.73; 95%CI (1.23,2.43); P=0.002] and reduce the incidence of nausea and vomiting [RR=0.66; 95% CI (0.50, 0.88); P=0.004]. XAPI in combination with the FOLFOX regimen (fluorouracil/calcium folinate/oxaliplatin) enhanced only the KPS improvement rate [RR=1.68; 95%CI (1.18,2.39); P=0.004] and had no significant effect on ORR or DCR or the incidence of adverse events. A single study reported that XAPI combined with the CPT-11 regimen (irinotecan) was superior to chemotherapy alone with respect to DCR and also reduced the incidence of leukopenia, liver damage, and hand-foot syndrome during chemotherapy, while prolonging PFS. Finally, one study reported that XAPI combined with the TP regimen (palitaxel plus cisplatin) improved ORR and KPS improvement rate to a greater extent than TP alone. Although the present review has some limitations, the findings suggest that XAPI combined with chemotherapy may represent a beneficial treatment strategy, particularly the combination of XAPI and XELOX.

Insomnia is a widespread complaint in the general population. Wendan decoction has been widely applied in the treatment of primary insomnia. However, to our knowledge, there has been no systematic review or meta-analysis of randomized controlled trails regarding the effectiveness of this treatment. Here, we provide a protocol to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Wendan decoction for primary insomnia. Relevant randomized controlled trials in 5 English databases [EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Cochrane Library), PubMed, the Allied and Complementary Medicine Databases (AMED), and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)], 4 Chinese databases [Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Medical Current Content (CMCC), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang Database] will be comprehensively searched by 2 researchers in October 2017. The therapeutic effects according to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) will be accepted as the primary outcomes. We will use RevMan V.5.3 software as well to compute the data synthesis carefully when a metaanalysis is allowed. This study will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence of Wendan decoction for primary insomnia from several aspects including PSQI, the total scores of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), syndrome according to standards for assessing Traditional Chinese medicine and adverse events. The conclusion of our systematic review will provide evidence to judge whether Wendan decoction is an effective intervention for patient with primary insomnia. The outcomes of this systematic review will offer implications of the use of Wendan decoction treatment for primary insomnia patients. This knowledge informing recommendations will be provided by researchers who are interested in the treatment of primary insomnia. The results of this study will be disseminated through presentation at a conference and publication of the data in a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO CRD 42017065664.

Background: Viral myocarditis (VMC) is a common emergency of cardiovascular disease. Current treatment for VMC includes the prohibition of exercise plus supportive and symptomatic treatment, given the lack of specific antiviral therapeutic options and insufficient evidence for the use of novel immunosuppressive therapies. Trimetazidine, a drug used to improve myocardial energy metabolism, is frequently used for the treatment of viral myocarditis. In China, Chinese herbal injections (CHIs) are often used in combination with trimetazidine. Therefore, we evaluate the efficacy and safety of CHI combined with trimetazidine in the treatment of VMC through the method of network meta-analysis.Methods: We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, Chinese Scientific Journals Full-text Database (VIP), and China Biology Medicine Database (CBM) databases from inception to September 1, 2020, to identify eligible randomized controlled trials. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias among selected studies and the Stata 16.0 software was used to perform the network meta-analysis.Results: A total of 29 studies were included, representing data from 2,687 patients. The effectiveness rate, level of myocardial injury marker, and the adverse reaction rate were evaluated. Compared with conventional treatment or conventional treatment combined with trimetazidine, CHIs combined with trimetazidine appeared to have a better therapeutic effect, with higher effectiveness rate and better reduction of the levels of creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB, and lactate dehydrogenase. Based on surface under the cumulative ranking, Shenmai injection combined with trimetazidine appeared to be superior in terms of effective rate, while Astragalus injection or Salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection combined with trimetazidine appeared most effective in reducing myocardial injury markers. There was no significant difference in safety between the interventions. However, a lack of safety monitoring in some selected studies meant that the safety of some interventions could not be fully evaluated.Conclusion: CHIs combined with trimetazidine may have therapeutic value in the treatment of viral myocarditis, and Shenmai injection, Astragalus injection, and Salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection may represent the most effective CHIs. Further clinical investigation is required to confirm these results.