Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Clinical efficacy and safety of xiaoyao pill in post-stroke depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Yue Xu^1,2, Qing Zhang³, Fang Yang^1,2, Suoguo Jing^1,2, Xiangning Zhang^1,2, Xuemei Qiu^1,2, Weiyin Chen^1,2

¹School of Clinical Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610075; ²Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine; ³School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 611137, PR China.

For correspondence:- Weiyin Chen Email: chenwydoctor@sina.com Tel:+862861801001

Accepted: 27 October 2019 Published: 30 November 2019

Citation: Xu Y, Zhang Q, Yang F, Jing S, Zhang X, Qiu X, et al. Clinical efficacy and safety of xiaoyao pill in post-stroke depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Trop J Pharm Res 2019; 18(11):2447-2454 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v18i11.31

© 2019 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To review the efficacy and safety of the xiaoyao pill in the treatment of post-stroke depression.

Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted using eligible studies found in relevant electronic databases [e.g., Embase, Baidu Scholar, Google Scholar, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) in China, Chinese Biomedical Database, Wanfang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure]. Statistical analyses were performed using Stata (version 12) and Review (version 5.3).

Results: Eleven articles with a total of 1007 patients were included in this study. Overall, the results of the published studies show that xiaoyao pill combined with conventional drug therapy increases clinical response by 20 %. In contrast, Hamilton Depression Scale score and Scandinavian Stroke Scale score were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in xiaoyao pill treatment group than in control group. As an adjuvant therapy, xiaoyao pill reduces potential adverse reactions, suggesting that it can be used as a supplementary therapy in the management of post-stroke depression patients.

Conclusion: The review and meta-analysis provide preliminarily proof that xiaoyao pill can improve the clinical symptoms of patients with post-stroke depression and has a higher safety profile than conventional drug therapy. These findings suggest that xiaoyao pill can be used as an alternative or complementary drug for the management of post-stroke depression.

Keywords: Post-stroke depression, Xiaoyao pill, Meta-analysis