Kuntai capsule for the treatment of ovulatory disorder infertility: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Introduction

Ovulatory disorders contribute significantly to infertility, due to menstrual cycle disturbances and endocrine abnormalities. Kuntai capsule, a Chinese patent medicine, has been widely used in China to enhance ovarian function and fertility. This review is to evaluate Kuntai capsule's potential benefits and harms for ovulatory disorder infertility (ODI).

Methods

Databases including China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WANFANG Database, Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase were searched from their inception to May 2023. All Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) comparing the combination of Kuntai capsule with reproductive medicine to reproductive medicine for ODI were included. Primary outcomes were ovulation rate and pregnancy rate. Secondary outcomes were the number of mature ovarian follicles and adverse events.

Results

Meta-analysis was conducted on 27 RCTs with a total of 2506 patients. The results showed that the combination of Kuntai capsule with clomiphene citrate (CC) had better effect in ovulation rate (Risk Ratio (RR)=1.27, 95 % confidence interval (CI) [1.15, 1.40]) and pregnancy rate (RR=1.66, 95 % CI [1.37, 2.01]) in ODI patients. The combination of Kuntai capsule with letrozole (LE) demonstrated improvements in ovulation rate (RR=1.22, 95 % CI [1.15, 1.29]) and pregnancy rate (RR=1.57, 95 % CI [1.39, 1.77]) in ODI patients. However, further large-scale RCTs are needed to validate these findings.

Conclusion

The combination of Kuntai capsule with reproductive medicine may improve the ovulation rate, pregnancy rate, and number of mature ovarian follicles in patients with ODI. However, considering the methodological quality issues in the included studies, it may potentially affect the reliability of the conclusions to some extent.