Effect of Oral Chinese Herbal Preparations Regulating Intestinal Flora on Lipid Metabolism Disorders in Patients: A Meta-Analysis of Controlled Clinical Studies

BACKGROUND: Lipid metabolism disorders can damage human health, and the changes in human intestinal flora are closely related to lipid metabolism disorders. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can play a role in regulating intestinal flora and balancing intestinal microecology. In this meta-analysis, the role of oral preparations of TCM that regulate intestinal flora, in the prevention and treatment of lipid metabolism disorders, was systematically evaluated. METHODS: The databases CBM, Pubmed, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang, and Google Scholar were searched by rapid matching of keywords to obtain clinical controlled studies related to oral preparations of TCMs regulating intestinal flora. After screening and quality evaluation, meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3 software. RESULTS: Total of 835 patients were enrolled in the 10 articles included in this study. Meta-analysis showed that TCM intervention could reduce the level of total cholesterol (TC) in patients with abnormal lipid metabolism [mean difference (MD) = −0.61, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) (−0.80, −0.42), p < 0.00001], reduce triacylglycerol (TG) level [MD = −0.46, 95%CI (−0.60, −0.33), p < 0.00001], increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level [MD = 0.25, 95%CI (0.17, 0.34), p < 0.00001], reduce the number of intestinal enterobacteria [MD = −0.64, 95%CI (−0.79, −0.49), p < 0.00001], reduce the number of enterococci [MD = −1.14, 95%CI (−1.66, −0.63), p < 0.00001], increase the number of intestinal lactobacillus [MD = 0.41, 95%CI (0.09, 0.74), p = 0.01], and increase the number of intestinal bifidobacteria [MD = 0.94, 95%CI (0.20, 1.68), p = 0.01]. CONCLUSION: The application of oral preparations of TCMs that regulate intestinal flora, in the prevention and treatment of lipid metabolism disorders, can increase the colonization of beneficial bacteria in the intestine of patients, inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, and restore the intestinal microecological balance, thus indirectly acting on the regulation of blood lipids in patients and contributing to the recovery of dyslipidemia.