The relationship between doctors and patients becomes a public hot topic recently, which becomes more prominent during the reforming and transition of the health care system. The emergence of evidence-based medicine corresponds to the requirement of the clinical practice brought by the transition of the health care system. It will play an important role in improving the relationship between doctors and patients. The promotion of evidence-based practice will be helpful to alleviate the conflict between doctors and patients and to increase the quality of health care.
Background Hepatitis B is one of the major infectious diseases of mankind, and up to now, there is no effective way to handle it. Recent clinical trials have shown the potential advantages of Kurorinone an extract of Chinese herb, in treament of chronic HBV infection. Objectives Systermically review the safety and efficacy of Kurorinone in treatment of chronic HBV infection. Search strategy With the searching terms including Kurorinone, its products’ name, hepatitis B and chronic carrier status, the trials registers of the Cochrane Hepato- Biliary Group, the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field, and the central database of the Cochrane Library as well as MEDILINE, EMBASE and Chinese Biomedical CD Database were searched from their date of inception onward. 20 Chinese medical journals and relevant academic conference proceedings have been searched by hand. The reference lists of identified documents were checked as the complementary search. Inclusion Criteria All RCTs that tested Kurorinone for chronic HBV infection were included in this review. Method of the review According the demand of Cochrane systematic review, selection of trial for inclusion, assessment of methodological quality, data extraction and data syntheses would be conducted for each included trial.
Objective To investigate the value of back propagation (BP) neural network for recognizing gastric cancer cell. Methods A total of 510 cells was selected from 308 patients. There were 210 gastric adenocarcinoma cells and 300 non-cancer gastric cells. Ten morphological parameters were measured for each cell. These data were randomly divided into two groups: training dataset (A) and test dataset (B). A three-layer BP neural network was built and trained by using dataset A. The network was then tested with dataset A and B.Results For data A, the sensitivity of network was 99%, specificity 99%, positive predictive value 98%, negative predictive value 99%, and accuracy 99%. For data B, the sensitivity of network was 99%, specificity 97%, positive predictive value 96%, negative predictive value 99%, the accuracy 98%. With receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve evaluation, the area under ROC curve was 0.99.Conclusion The model based on BP neural network is very effective. A BP neural network can be used for effectively recognizing gastric cancer cell.
Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of genus Phyllanthus for chronic HBV infection. Design a systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Methods Randomized trials comparing genus Phyllanthus versus placebo, no intervention, general non-specific treatment, other herbal medicine, or interferon treatment for chronic HBV infection were identified by electronic and manual searches. Trials of Phyllanthus herb plus interferon versus interferon alone were also included. No blinding and language limitations were applied. The methodological quality of trials was assesses, by the Jadadscale plus allocation concealment. Results Twenty-two randomized trials (n=1 947) were identified. The methodological quality was high in five double blind trials and rest was low. The combined results showed that Phyllanthus species had positive effect on clearance of serum HBsAg (relative risk 5.64, 95%C1 1.85 to 17.21) compared with placebo or no intervention. There was no significant difference on clearance of serum HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV DNA between Phyllanthus and interferon. Phyllanthus species were better than non-specific treatment or other herbal medicines on clearance of serum HBeAg, HBeAg, HBV DNA, and liver enzyme normalization. Analyses showed a better effect of the Phyllanthus plus interferon combination on clearance of serum (1.56, 1.06 to 2.32) and HBV DNA (1.52, 1.05 to 2.21) than interferon alone. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions Based on the review Phyllanthus species may have positive effect on antiviral activity and liver biochemistry in chronic HBV infection. However, the evidence is not b due to the general low methodological quality and the variations of the herb. Further large trials are needed.
Background Hepatitis B virus infection is a serious health problem worldwide. Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs have been widely used to treat chronic liver diseases, and many controlled trials have been done to investigate their efficacy. Objectives To assess the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs for chronic hepatitis B infection. Search strategy Searches were applied to the following electronic databases: the CHBG Trials Register, the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field Trials-Register, the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE and BIOSIS. Five Chinese journals and conference proceedings were handsearched. No language restriction was used. Selection criteria Randomized or quasi-randomized trials with at least three months follow-up. Thais of Chinese medicinal herbs (single or compound) compared with placebo, no intervention, general non-specific treatment or interferon treatment were included. Trials of Chinese medicinal herbs plus interferon versus interferon alone were also included. Trials could be double-blind, single-blind or not blinded. Data collection and analysis Data were extracted independently by two reviewers. The methodological quality of trials was evaluated using the Jadad-scale plus allocation concealment. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed. Main Resuits Nine randomized trials, including 936 patients, met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality was considered adequate in only one trial. There was a significant funnel plot asymmetry (regression coefficient= 3.37, standard error 1.40, P=0.047). Ten different medicinal herbs were tested in the nine trials. Compared to non-specific treatment or placebo, Fuzheng Jiedu Tang (compound of herbs) showed significantly positive effects on clearance of serum HBsAg, HBeAg, and HBV DNA; Polyporus umbellatus, polysaccharide on serum HBeAg and HBV DNA; Phyllanthus amarus on serum HBeAg. Phyllanthus compound and kurorinone showed no significant effect on clearance of serum HBeAg and HBV DNA and on alanine aminotransferase normalization compared to interferon treatment. There were no significant effects of the other examined herbs. Reviewer’s conclusions Some Chinese medicinal herbs may work in chronic hepatitis B. However, the evidence too weak to recommend any single herb. Rigorously designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials are required.