Cost-effectiveness analysis of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections

Reporting quality of economic evaluations of the negotiated Traditional Chinese Medicines in national reimbursement drug list of China: A systematic review

Background

Traditional Medicine (TM) has a wide uptake in most countries. In China, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a common kind of primary health because of its beneficial effects. This review aimed to appraise the publication reporting quality of economic evaluations for selective TCM in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), Version 2020, based on the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement.

Methods

Electronic databases were searched for economic evaluation that supported the TCM negotiations in NRDL (2020 version) published from 2001 to 2021, including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, WanFang, and SinoMed. The CHEERS statement was used to appraise the reporting quality of included TCM economic evaluations.

Results

A total of 360 articles were retrieved, but only 38 economic evaluations met the inclusion criteria. None of the articles reported all items in the CHEERS checklist. The mean score of included articles is low at 10.93±2.62, with an average scoring rate of 51.31±10.53%. The least reported items included: "Characterizing heterogeneity," "Conflicts of interest", "Discount rate," and "Study perspective," with a reporting rate of 0.00%, 5.26%, 7.89%, and 15.79%, respectively.

Conclusion

An upward trend occurred in the quantity and quality of the economic evaluation publications of TCM in China. TCM economic evaluations are still at an early stage, with an urgent need for improving reporting quality. It may result from research experiences or different ideas between TCM and Western Medicine. Adhering to reporting guidelines like CHEERS and educating economic evaluation investigators can improve TCM economic evaluations' reporting quality.

Antiviral Treatment Options for Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Infections

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a tick-borne virus that produces severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS). It is widespread in Japan, South Korea, and Central and Eastern China. The epidemic has developed rapidly through China in recent years. SFTS cases have been reported in 25 provinces in China, mainly distributed in rural areas in mountainous and hilly areas. The infection has a high case fatality rate and no specific treatments or vaccinations. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of SFTS infection is important to survival and disease control. In this article, we provide an overview on different aspects of SFTS with an emphasis on management, to explore the current treatment and prophylactic measures further.

Comprehensive multicomponent characterization and fingerprinting analysis of Lanqin Oral Liquid by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with ion mobility-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Comprehensive characterization of the chemical constituents of Chinese patent medicine poses a great challenge due to the frustrating complexity resulting from superposition of multiple drugs. Lanqin Oral Liquid is a five-component Chinese patent medicine widely applied to treat pharyngeal inflammation in clinic. Here, we streamline a universal three-dimensional separation approach to efficiently identify the multicomponents from Lanqin Oral Liquid by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and UNIFI/in-house library-driven automatic peak annotation. Because of the systematic optimization, the use of an HSS T3 column enabled good separation of the multiple components within 42 min, while high-definition MS^E in both the negative and positive modes could characterize more classes of herbal components, thus providing the retention, collision cross-section, and MS information for each component. Benefiting from the ion mobility separation, cleaner MS¹ and MS² spectra were acquired. Aided by comparison and analysis of the fragmentation pathways of 49 reference compounds, we could characterize 175 compounds from Lanqin Oral Liquid. A validated high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprinting approach unveiled good similarity (0.985-1.000) among 22 batches of commercial samples. Conclusively, we demonstrated a practical solution to elucidating the chemical composition of Chinese patent medicines, with the potential of popularization.

Which East Asian herbal medicines can decrease viral infections?

Whilst Western research for the COVID-19 crisis focuses on vaccination, in East Asia traditional herbal prescriptions are studied for SARS-CoV2 therapy. In Japan, Maoto (Ephedrae herba 4 g, Armeniacae semen 4 g, Cinnamomi cortex 3 g, and Glycyrrhizae radix 2 g, JPXVII) is used based on clinical evidence for its effect on early phase influenza (also caused by RNA viruses) comparable to that of oseltamivir. The Health Ministry of Thailand has approved Andrographis paniculata (Jap. Senshinren) extracts for treatment of COVID-19. Its combination (4 g) with Maoto, Maoto-ka-senshinren, seems most promising for the treatment of viral pandemics. In China, the official guideline for COVID-19 treatment contains TCM medications with antiviral, as well as immunmodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects such as: Qing-Fei-Pai-Du-Tang (Jap. Seihai-haidokuto) contains 21 drugs; Shufeng Jiedu Jiaonang (Bupleuri radix 8 g, Forsythiae fructus 8 g, Glycyrrhizae radix 4 g, Isatidis radix 8 g, Patriniae herba 8 g, Phragmitis rhizoma 6 g, Polygoni cuspidati rhizoma 10 g, Verbenae herba 8 g); Fufang Yuxingcao Heiji (Forsythiae fructus 0.6 g, Houttuyniae herba 6 g, Isatidis radix 1.5 g, Lonicerae flos 0.6 g, Scutellariae radix 1.5 g) first gained prominence during the 2002 SARS epidemic. With no Western medicine available, the following overview discusses efficacy and mechanisms in view of viral entry and replication of different East Asian herbal remedies for COVID-19 treatment.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Ginkgolide Injection in the Treatment of Ischemic Stroke Based on a Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective: To evaluate the long-term cost-effectiveness of ginkgolide plus aspirin compared with placebo plus aspirin treatment of ischemic stroke. Background: Stroke is the leading cause of death and long-term disability in China, with high incidence, high mortality, and heavy disease burden. In addition to Western medicines, Chinese clinical guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of acute ischemic stroke recommend application of Chinese patent medicines. Ginkgolide injection is commonly used in the clinical treatment of stroke in China to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. The economy of ginkgolide injection needs to be evaluated. Methods: A Markov model was constructed consisting of four disease states: no significant disability, disability, stroke recurrence, and death. Therapeutic data were taken from the Ginkgolide in Ischemic Stroke Patients with Large Artery Atherosclerosis (GISAA) study. Utilities and transition probabilities were extracted from the literature. Cost data were obtained from the China Health Statistics Yearbook and hospital record survey. Expected costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) of 13 years of cycles (calculated by average age of subjects and Chinese life expectancy) were calculated through TreeAge Pro11 software. The willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold was set as the Chinese per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019, CN¥70,892/QALY. The results were analyzed by single factor and probability sensitivity analyses. Results: Ginkgolide plus aspirin had a higher expected per-patient cost than placebo plus aspirin but a higher QALYs. Compared with placebo plus aspirin, ginkgolide plus aspirin produced an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of CN¥14,866.06/QALY, which is below the WTP threshold. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis suggested the acceptability of ginkgolide plus aspirin was higher than that of placebo plus aspirin. Conclusions: The present cost-effectiveness analysis showed that addition of ginkgolides to conventional treatment is cost-effective at a threshold the Chinese per capita GDP.