Chinese medicinal herbs for mumps

Effective Antiviral Medicinal Plants and Biological Compounds Against Central Nervous System Infections: A Mechanistic Review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Infectious diseases are amongst the leading causes of death in the world and central nervous system infections produced by viruses may either be fatal or generate a wide range of symptoms that affect global human health. Most antiviral plants contain active phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, and polyphenols, some of which play an important antiviral role. Herein, we present a background to viral central nervous system (CNS) infections, followed by a review of medicinal plants and bioactive compounds that are effective against viral pathogens in CNS infections.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was conducted on scientific databases including: PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The relevant keywords used as search terms were: "myelitis", "encephalitis", "meningitis", "meningoencephalitis", "encephalomyelitis", "central nervous system", "brain", "spinal cord", "infection", "virus", "medicinal plants", and "biological compounds".

RESULTS

The most significant viruses involved in central nervous system infections are: Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), West Nile Virus (WNV), Enterovirus 71 (EV71), Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV), and Dengue Virus (DENV). The inhibitory activity of medicinal plants against CNS viruses is mostly active through prevention of viral binding to cell membranes, blocking viral genome replication, prevention of viral protein expression, scavenging reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), and reduction of plaque formation.

CONCLUSION

Due to the increased resistance of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, and parasites) to antimicrobial therapies, alternative treatments, especially using plant sources and their bioactive constituents, appear to be more fruitful.

Chinese medicinal herbs for mumps

BACKGROUND

Mumps is an infectious disease caused by the mumps virus. Chinese physicians generally believe that Chinese medicinal herbs are effective in alleviating symptoms and reducing the duration of mumps. Herbalists tend to develop a treatment plan according to the individual's symptoms.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Chinese medicinal herbs combined with routine treatments for mumps.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched CENTRAL (2015, Issue 1), MEDLINE (1948 to January week 4, 2015), EMBASE (1974 to February 2015), CINAHL (1981 to February 2015), AMED (1985 to April 2014), the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) (1980 to February 2015), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1979 to February 2015), VIP Information (1989 to February 2015), and relevant databases of ongoing trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of Chinese medicinal herbs for mumps (with or without complications).

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently evaluated trial quality and conducted data extraction. We contacted the trial authors for missing data regarding participant allocation. Some trials allocated participants according to the participants' admission sequence, making it a pseudo-random allocation. None of the trials concealed participants' allocation or used blinding.

MAIN RESULTS

We did not identify any eligible trials for inclusion. We identified 108 studies that claimed to use random allocation. We excluded 104 studies because the allocation methods the authors had used were not actually randomised. We were unable to contact the trial authors of the remaining four studies. These trials require further evaluation and have been allocated to the 'Studies awaiting classification' section.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

We did not find any RCTs for or against Chinese herbal medicine used in the treatment of mumps. We hope more high-quality RCTs will be conducted in the future.

Acupuncture for mumps in children

BACKGROUND

Mumps is an acute, viral illness transmitted by respiratory droplets and saliva. A number of studies published in China have suggested that acupuncture is beneficial for children with mumps but the literature reporting the benefits or harms of acupuncture for mumps has not been systematically reviewed.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for children with mumps.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched CENTRAL (2012, Issue 4), MEDLINE (1950 to April week 4, 2012), EMBASE (1974 to May 2012), CINAHL (1981 to May 2012), AMED (1985 to May 2012), the Chinese BioMedicine Database (CBM) (1979 to May 2012), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1979 to May 2012), Chinese Technology Periodical Database (CTPD) (1989 to May 2012) and WANFANG database (1982 to May 2012). We also handsearched a number of journals (from first issue to current issue).

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials comparing acupuncture with placebo acupuncture, no management, Chinese medication, Western medication or other treatments for mumps. Acupuncture included either traditional acupuncture or contemporary acupuncture, regardless of the source of stimulation (body, electro, scalp, fire, hand, fine needle, moxibustion).

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the quality of included studies. We calculated risk ratios (RR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the effective percentage and standardised mean differences (SMD) with 95% CIs for the time to cure.

MAIN RESULTS

Only one study with 239 participants met our inclusion criteria. There were a total of 120 participants in the acupuncture group, of which 106 recovered, with their temperature returning back to normal and no swelling or pain of the parotid gland; the condition of 14 participants improved, with a drop in temperature and alleviation of swelling or pain of the parotid gland. There were 119 participants in the Western medicine group, of which 56 recovered and the condition of 63 improved. The acupuncture group had a higher recovery rate than the control group. The relative RR of recovery was 1.88 (95% CI 1.53 to 2.30). However, the acupuncture group had a longer time to cure than the control group. The mean was 4.20 days and the standard deviation (SD) was 0.46 in the acupuncture group, while in the control group the mean was 3.78 days and the SD was 0.46.There was a potential risk of bias in the study because of low methodological quality.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

We could not reach any confident conclusions about the efficacy and safety of acupuncture based on one study. More high-quality research is needed.