Curative Effects of Fuzheng Huayu on Liver Fibrosis and Cirrhosis: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The Fuzheng Huayu (FZHY) formula is being used in antiliver fibrosis treatment in China. For systemic evaluation of the curative effects of FZHY on liver fibrosis and cirrhosis progress, a total of 1392 subjects (714 cases and 678 controls) were found to be eligible for meta-analysis in this study. Standard mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for changes between FZHY groups and controls by employing fixed effects or random effects model. In the overall analysis, alanine transaminase (ALT) (P=0.003, SMD = −0.87, 95% CI: −1.46 to −0.29), total bilirubin (TBil) (P=0.001, SMD = −1.30, 95% CI: −2.10 to −0.50), hyaluronic acid (HA) (P=0.000, SMD = −0.94, 95% CI: −1.30 to −0.58), laminin (LN) (P=0.000, SMD = −0.80, 95% CI: −1.20 to −0.41), type III procollagen (PC-III) (P=0.000, SMD = −1.27, 95% CI: −1.93 to −0.60), and type IV procollagen (IV-C) (P=0.000, SMD = −0.78, 95% CI: −1.05 to −0.51) were decreased after FZHY treatment; however, albumin (ALB) was increased (P=0.037, SMD = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.07 to 2.12) significantly. Furthermore, the Child-Pugh score was reduced significantly and the life quality was improved after FZHY treatment in cirrhosis patients. The results of this meta-analysis indicated that FZHY effectively improves the liver function, alleviates hepatic fibrosis, decreases Child-Pugh score, and relieves TCM symptoms caused by liver dysfunction, indicating that FZHY may contribute to the alleviation of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.