Traditional Chinese medicine for myasthenia gravis: Study protocol for a network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a disease that is difficult to cure, mainly manifested in the affected skeletal muscle weakness and morbid fatigue, which seriously affects the patients’ daily life and work. A large number of randomized controlled trial have shown that Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a good effect in treating MG. However, due to the variety of TCM treatment methods, its relative effectiveness and safety have not been verified. Therefore, this study will use a network meta-analysis method to verify the effectiveness and safety of different types of TCM in the treatment of MG. METHODS: We will search the following databases from inception to June 2020: the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library. Collect all randomized controlled trial of TCM for the treatment of MG, The 2 authors will independently select studies and extract data based on pre-designed inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality assessment and risk of bias will be assessed using Cochrane bias risk tool. All data analysis will be conducted using Revman5.3, WinBUGS 1.4.3, and Stata14.2 software. RESULTS: This study will directly and indirectly compare the different outcome indicators of various studies, and rank the effectiveness of different TCM methods. The main outcome indicators include effectiveness, remission rate (no drug symptoms), relapse rate, clinical absolute score, and relative score. Secondary outcome indicators: including any related adverse reactions, the concentration of acetylcholine receptor antibody in serum. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this systematic review will provide credible Evidence-based for the relative advantages of different TCM treatment methods for MG.