Efficacy and Safety of the Chinese Patent Medicine Yuquan Pill on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Yuquan Pill (YQP), a Chinese patent medicine for the treatment of diabetes, is widely used in the treatment of diabetes and its complications in China. However, the efficacy of YQP on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has not been completely assessed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of YQP in the treatment of T2DM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically searched 9 databases for specific keywords from inception to Oct 2021. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving YQP in the treatment of T2DM without language limitation. The study conformed to the Cochrane Handbook and Review Manager software was used for data analysis. The weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to measure treatment effects. RESULTS: The final analysis included 10 publications. Analysis showed that the combination of YQP and conventional treatment was more effective than conventional treatment alone with regard to the levels of fasting blood glucose (WMD = −0.83; 95% CI [−1.01,−0.66]; p < 0.00001), two-hour postprandial glucose (WMD = −1.40; 95% CI [−1.49,−1.31]; p < 0.00001), glycosylated hemoglobin (WMD = −0.87; 95% CI [−1.26, −0.49]; p < 0.00001), total cholesterol (WMD = −0.50; 95% CI [−0.61, −0.39]; p < 0.00001), c-reactive protein (WMD = −0.58; 95%CI [−0.88, −0.28]; p=0.0002), and overall effective rate (RR = 1.21; 95% CI [1.12, 1.31]; p < 0.00001). CONCLUSION: Evidence suggested that YQP might improve glucose and lipid metabolism and inflammation in patients with T2DM. Serious adverse events were not reported. The quality of the evidence analyzed was low and therefore our results should be interpreted with caution. More high-quality RCTs are now needed to verify these findings.