Chinese herbal injections for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A narrative review

Xiao-Bin Zhu; Meng Guo; Zhi-Hui Zhang; Li-Hua Sun; Lei Liu; Li-Juan Zhou; Chun-Lei Shan; Yi Yang; Lian-Di Kan; Liu-Cheng Li

doi:10.1016/j.imr.2021.100778

Chinese herbal injections for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A narrative review

Integr Med Res. 2021 Dec;10(4):100778. doi: 10.1016/j.imr.2021.100778. Epub 2021 Sep 30.

Authors

Xiao-Bin Zhu¹, Meng Guo¹, Zhi-Hui Zhang^{2

3}, Li-Hua Sun⁴, Lei Liu⁵, Li-Juan Zhou¹, Chun-Lei Shan¹, Yi Yang⁶, Lian-Di Kan¹, Liu-Cheng Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
² Shanghai TCM-Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
³ Shanghai TCM-Integrated Institute of Vascular Anomalies, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound & Echocardiography, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Orthopaedics, Shaoxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shaoxing, China.
⁶ Department of Pharmacy, Xiasha Campus, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused more than 180 million infections and 3.9 million deaths. To date, emerging clinical evidence has shown the synergetic benefits of Chinese herbal injections in treating this contagious respiratory disease. This review aims to summarize and analyze the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal injections in the therapy of COVID-19.

Methods: The literature from 3 electronic databases, PubMed, CNKI, and Web of Science, were searched using the search terms "COVID-19", "SARS-CoV-2", "traditional Chinese medicine", "herb", "herbal", and "injection". Then the identified articles were comprehensively evaluated.

Results: Limited data demonstrated that Chinese herbal injections could significantly improve the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients, especially in combination with conventional treatment strategies. The benefits of which were mainly associated with the relief of symptoms, prevention of secondary infection, regulation of inflammation and immune function. There was also evidence showing the inhibitory effects on SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro. Nevertheless, available real-world data suggested the increased risk of adverse event. Furthermore, the defects of existing researches and the insights for discovering novel antiviral drugs were prospectively discussed.

Conclusion: Evidence-based advances revealed that Chinese herbal injections such as XueBiJing injection and ShenMai injection, exerted potent effects against COVID-19. Further laboratory researches and clinical evaluation are needed to gather scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety.

Keywords: COVID-19; Chinese herbal injection; Coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; herb.

Publication types

Review