The Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine Combined With Western Medicine on Vascular Endothelial Function in Patients With Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Study answer

What this study found

Overall, adding Chinese herbal medicine to Western antihypertensive therapy was associated with better blood pressure control and improved vascular endothelial function than Western medicine alone. Across outcomes, the combination was linked to higher nitric oxide, lower endothelin-1, and better flow-mediated dilation, with additional improvements reported in several trials for SBP, DBP, 24 h-SBP, 24 h-DBP, VEGF, Ang II, vWF, hs-CRP, and TGFb-1. Adverse events were generally mild and completion rates were high. However, the certainty of evidence was very low to low, so the findings remain…

Study & population

Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in adults with essential hypertension, primarily Chinese participants.

Intervention

Active intervention arms received Chinese herbal medicine added to conventional Western antihypertensive therapy, compared with Western medicine alone.

Key limitation

The evidence base was limited by risk of bias, substantial heterogeneity, and very low to low certainty of evidence.

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Original abstract