Efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine combined with conventional western medicine on metabolic syndrome: a Bayesian network meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of multiple risk factors. The combination of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and conventional western medicine (CWM) shows promise in treating MetS. However, the effectiveness of different integrated treatments combining TCM and CWM for MetS remains a subject of ongoing debate.

Methods

PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, and four Chinese databases were searched. We evaluated the risk of bias and quality in the included studies, and performed a Bayesian multiple network meta-analysis.

Results

We included 30 randomised controlled trials. Meta-analysis based on Bayesian network demonstrated that the combination of Dachaihu decoction and CWM exhibited the most excellent clinical treatment efficacy on MetS. The combination of HuanglianWendan decoction + Dachaihu decoction and CWM demonstrated the most favourable impact on improving patient body mass index (BMI); the combination of Gegen Qinlian decoction + Pingwei San and CWM exhibited a significant effect in reducing patient waist circumference; among various treatment measures, Wuling San combined with CWM had been proven to be more effective in enhancing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) levels in patients.

Conclusion

The combination of TCM and CWM exhibits a pronounced therapeutic efficacy in the management of MetS, surpassing the use of CWM alone. This study identified the optimal intervention strategies for different outcome indicators by combining TCM and CWM in a comprehensive manner. However, due to the limitations of this study, more high-quality studies are needed to provide robust evidence in the future.