Chinese Herbal Medicine (Zi Shen Qing) for Mild-to-Moderate Systematic Lupus Erythematosus: A Pilot Prospective, Single-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Study

Table 5

Comparison of the main outcome measures within and between ZSQ and control groups.

Outcome measures	ZSQ (𝑛=42)			Control (𝑛=42)
	Mean	SD	Within-group; 𝑃 value^a	Mean	SD	Within-group; 𝑃 value^a	Between-group; 𝑃 value^b
SLEDAI scores
Baseline	10.5	2.2		10.6	2.1		0.35
Endpoint (12-week)	5.1	1.5	<0.01	7.0	1.9	<0.01	0.03
CMS scores
Baseline	19.5	3.9		19.7	3.9		0.80
Endpoint (12-week)	12.3	4.3	<0.01	14.6	5.2	<0.01	0.04
Mean prednisone dosage
Baseline	10.2	6.4		11.0	6.6		0.39
Endpoint (12-week)	3.6	3.1	<0.01	6.6	5.6	<0.01	0.01
Mild-to-moderate flare-up at endpoint (𝑛, %)	5 (11.9)			8 (19.0)			0.02
Severe flare-up	0 (0.0)			0 (0.0)
Anti-dsDNA (IU/mL)
Baseline	89.8	72.9		89.2	80.5		0.63
Endpoint (12-week)	76.3	61.6	<0.01	83.4	72.6	0.08	<0.01
C3 (g/L)
Baseline	0.8	0.3		0.8	0.2		0.47
Endpoint (12-week)	1.2	0.3	0.02	0.8	0.3	0.27	0.02
C4 (g/L)
Baseline	0.2	0.1		0.3	0.1		0.61
Endpoint (12-week)	0.3	0.2	0.04	0.2	0.1	0.27	0.04
IgG (g/L)
Baseline	18.7	5.4		17.9	2.8		0.38
Endpoint (12-week)	17.0	5.0	<0.01	17.8	3.2	0.66	0.03
NK cell activity (%)
Baseline	14.5	8.8		14.0	6.2		0.78
Endpoint (12-week)	16.7	9.1	<0.01	16.3	4.2	<0.01	0.29
sIL-2R (pM)
Baseline	40.8	8.6		40.1	14.8		0.80
Endpoint (12-week)	37.2	12.5	<0.01	38.6	13.8	<0.01	0.11

 ^aResults from paired 𝑡-test to examine the effects of within-group, baseline versus 12-week, and 12-week versus 3-month followup.
^bResults from an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with baseline as covariate, ZSQ group versus control group.