Effectiveness and Safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treatment of Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Patients: A Meta-analysis

Background: Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disease. It can damage the salivary and lacrimal glands and is characterized by dry mouth and eye symptoms, which seriously affects people’s normal life. Both modern medicine and Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have certain effects in treating SS. However, there are different theories about which treatment is more appropriate. Objective: The aim of this research was to compare the efficacy and safety of TCM to Western Medicine in the treatment of pSS. Methods: We collected randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of TCM, integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine for the treatment of pSS in Chinese and foreign databases. Results: A total of 13 articles were eventually included with 780 cases. The final results were expressed in odds ratio (OR), mean difference (MD), 95% confidence interval (CI), and overall effect (z). The effective rate was 86.03% in the TCM group and 67.75% in the western medicine group. Results of the effective rate were OR = 3.57; 95% CI = 2.44-5.23; z = 6.56; p#156;0.00001, ESR were MD = -6.90; 95% CI = -10.76--3.05; z = 3.51; p = 0.0005#156;0.05, Schirmer’s test were MD = 3.39; 95% CI = 1.92-4.86; z = 4.5; p#156;0.00001, salivary flow were MD = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.16-1.07; z = 2.63; p = 0.009#156;0.05, and adverse reactions were OR = 0.35; 95% CI = 0.17-0.72; z = 2.84; p = 0.004. Conclusion: TCM has a remarkable effect on the treatment of pSS. Among them Yiguanjian decoction and Liuwei Dihuang decoction were effective prescriptions with the highest frequency of application. Rehmanniae Radix (Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch.) and Ophiopogonis Radix (Ophiopogon japonicus (L. f.) Ker-Gawl.) were the most frequently used TCM.