The Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Endometriosis: A Review of Utilization and Mechanism

Table 3

Herbal mixture for EM treatment in the literature.

Herbal mixture; sample/case number (𝑛)	Control; sample number (𝑛)	Total clinical effect rate	Model used	Therapeutic effects and actions	References
Xuefu Zhuyu decoction (XZD); 𝑛=79	Gestrinone Capsule; 𝑛=56	𝑇: 91.14% versus 91.07%	Human study	Alleviate dysmenorrhoea; Shrink endometriotic lesion	[25]
XZD; 𝑛=60	Mifepristone Tablets; 𝑛=60	𝐷: 90.0% versus 70.0%	Human study	Alleviate dysmenorrhoea	[26]
XZD; 𝑛=42		𝑇: 93%; 𝐷: 60%; 𝑃: 12%	Human study	Alleviate dysmenorrhoea; Promote pregnancy	[27]
XZD; 𝑛=42	Danazol; 𝑛=28	𝑇: 95.2% versus 75.0%; 𝑃 in XZD: 23.6%	Human study	Alleviate dysmenorrhoea; Promote pregnancy	[28]
Xiaochaihu decoction (XCHD)	Danazol		SD rat model	COX-2↓ P450arom↓ Estradiol↓ IL-8↓ TNF-𝛼↓ MVD↓ VEGF↓ Fas protein↑ apoptosis↑ in ectopic endometrial tissues	[29, 33–37]
Qu Yi Kang (QYK)	Danazol		SD rat model	TXB2↓ IL-2↓, IL-6↓ VEGF↓ ER↓	[39, 40, 42–44]
Yi Wei Ning (YWN); 𝑛=46		𝑇: 93.48%	Human study	Dysmenorrhoea alleviation; Shrink endometriotic lesion	[45]
YWN			Wistar rat model	Fas/FasL↑ Bcl-2↓ Bax↑ apoptosis↑ COX-2↓ in ectopic endometrial tissues	[46, 48, 51]
Yi Wei San (YWS)	Danazol		Rabbit model	6-keto-PGF l𝛼↓ TXB2↓ Blood rheology↑ Vasoactive substances↓	[51, 52]
Huoxue Xiaoyi decoction (HXD)			SD rat model	ICAM-1↓ MMP-9↓ VEGF↓ AAA pathway↓ Recurrence rate↓	[54, 55]

Note: 𝑇 (Total effect rate) = all effective number of cases/total number of cases; effective case refers to the patients or animal models whose signs and symptoms have been improved after treatment; 𝐷: dysmenorrhoea alleviation rate; 𝑃: pregnancy rate.