Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK.
Brain Behav. 2019 Mar;9(3):e01217. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1217. Epub 2019 Feb 6.
The traditional herbal supplements Panax ginseng and Ginkgo biloba are self-medicated by members of the general public and prescribed by healthcare professionals in some EU countries for numerous health complaints. Clinical evidence is mixed and mechanisms of action are not fully understood. There is clinical interest into the synergistic effects of combining both herbs.
We systematically review the literature investigating the effects of combination treatments on physiological and psychological outcomes in humans. We identified all studies meeting inclusion criteria: (a) written in English; (b) peer-reviewed; (c) conducted in humans; (d) including either a proprietary Panax ginseng/Ginkgo biloba treatment or a study preparation containing both; (e) placebo-controlled; (f) utilizing standardized extracts. We critically discuss each trial; calculate standardized effect sizes where possible and provide recommendations for research design and analysis.
Eight studies were identified and all investigated a proprietary combination treatment, Gincosan . Studies are of high quality and robust; however, practice effects, choice of statistical model, and reliance upon null-hypothesis significance testing hinder generalized estimates of effect. The most consistent results are benefits to aspects of the circulatory/cardiovascular system in patient populations and "secondary memory" performance in patient and healthy populations. Two studies demonstrate synergy in healthy populations following a single dose; however, synergy in patient populations and following repeated dosing has not yet been directly tested.
A Panax ginseng and Ginkgo biloba combination treatment can improve aspects of physiological and cognitive function in humans; however, evidence for synergy requires further investigation and future research should directly investigate synergy following repeated dosing.
传统草药补品人参和银杏在欧盟一些国家，民众会自行服用，医疗保健专业人员也会开处方用于治疗多种健康问题。但临床证据不一，其作用机制也不完全清楚。人们对这两种草药联合使用的协同作用很感兴趣。
我们系统地综述了调查人参和银杏联合治疗对人体生理和心理结果影响的文献。我们确定了所有符合纳入标准的研究：（a）用英文书写；（b）同行评议；（c）在人体中进行；（d）包括专利人参/银杏治疗或含有两者的研究制剂；（e）安慰剂对照；（f）使用标准化提取物。我们批判性地讨论了每一项试验；尽可能计算标准化效应大小，并提供研究设计和分析建议。
确定了 8 项研究，均调查了一种专利联合治疗药物 Gincosan。这些研究质量高且稳健；然而，实践效果、统计模型选择和对零假设显著性检验的依赖，阻碍了对效应的普遍估计。最一致的结果是改善了患者人群的循环/心血管系统的各个方面，以及患者和健康人群的“次要记忆”表现。两项研究表明，在健康人群中单次给药后具有协同作用；然而，在患者人群中以及重复给药后的协同作用尚未得到直接测试。
人参和银杏的联合治疗可以改善人体的生理和认知功能；但是，协同作用的证据需要进一步研究，未来的研究应该直接调查重复给药后的协同作用。
