Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research Program, Health Innovations Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Bundoora Campus, Victoria, Australia.
J Am Acad Dermatol. 2013 Aug;69(2):295-304. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2013.01.019. Epub 2013 Jun 4.
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, itching skin disease, and conventional therapies offer inadequate symptom management. Patients with AD are increasingly turning to Chinese medicine.
We systematically evaluated the clinical evidence of the efficacy and safety of oral Chinese herbal medicine for AD.
Searches were conducted on major electronic databases using the following key words: "randomized controlled trials," "atopic dermatitis," "traditional Chinese medicine," "traditional East Asian medicine," "herbal medicine," "Chinese herbal drugs," "medicinal plants," "phytotherapy," "Kampo medicine," and "Korean traditional medicine." The results were screened to include English/Chinese randomized controlled trials. A metaanalysis was conducted on suitable outcome measures.
Seven randomized controlled trials were included (1 comparing Chinese herbal medicine and Western medicine with Western medicine alone; 6 comparing Chinese herbal medicine with placebo). Combined Chinese herbal medicine with Western medicine was superior to Western medicine alone. Three placebo controlled trials showed significant treatment efficacy and 2 showed significantly reduced concurrent therapy with Chinese herbal medicine. No abnormalities in safety profile or severe adverse events were reported.
A metaanalysis of all included studies could not be conducted because of study heterogeneity.
Chinese herbal medicine significantly improved symptom severity of AD and was reported as well tolerated. However, the poor quality of studies did not allow for valid conclusions to support its tolerability and routine use. Additional studies addressing the methodologic issues are warranted to determine the therapeutic benefit of Chinese herbal medicine for AD.
特应性皮炎（AD）是一种慢性瘙痒性皮肤病，常规疗法的症状管理效果欠佳。越来越多的 AD 患者开始寻求中医药治疗。
系统评价口服中药治疗 AD 的临床疗效和安全性。
采用“随机对照试验”“特应性皮炎”“中药”“传统东亚医学”“草药”“中草药”“药用植物”“植物疗法”“汉方医学”和“韩国传统医学”等关键词，对主要电子数据库进行检索，筛选纳入中英文随机对照试验。对合适的结局指标进行荟萃分析。
共纳入 7 项随机对照试验（1 项比较中药联合西药与西药单用，6 项比较中药与安慰剂）。与西药单用相比，联合中药治疗的疗效更佳。3 项安慰剂对照试验显示出显著的治疗效果，2 项试验显示中药联合治疗的同时减少了辅助治疗药物。未报告安全性参数异常或严重不良事件。
由于研究异质性，无法对所有纳入研究进行荟萃分析。
中药可显著改善 AD 的症状严重程度，且耐受性良好。但由于研究质量较差，无法得出支持其耐受性和常规使用的有效结论。需要进一步开展解决方法学问题的研究，以确定中药治疗 AD 的疗效。
