Beneficial Effects and Safety of Corticosteroids Combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine for Pemphigus: A Systematic Review

Table 1

Characteristics of the studies included in this review.

(a)

Study	Authors	Year	Article source	Type of study	Sample size; (treatment/control)	Diagnosis standard
[14]	Li and Liang	2009	CJCM2009 Vol. (1)	RCT	29/27	Clinical manifestation histopathology and DIF
[15]	Chen and Xu	2007	Journal of New Chinese Medicine, January 2007 VoI. 39 No.1	RCT	32/29	Clinical manifestation histopathology and DIF
[6]	Luo et al.	2003	Journal of Clinical Dermatology, 2003; 32(1): 38–41.	RCT	20/20	Clinical manifestation histopathology and DIF
[16]	Wang et al.	2009	Journal of China Traditional Chinese Medicine Information, April 2009, Vo1. 1 No. 2	RCT	22/20	Clinical manifestation histopathology and immunopathology

(b)

Study	Intervention
	Treatment	Control
[14]	Systemic therapy: (Radix rehmanniae, cornu bubali, coptidis rhizoma, Gardenia, radix scutellariae, red peony root, phillyrin, cortex moutan, folium phyllostachytis, herba artemisiae scopariae, Fritillaria cirrhosa, caulis akebiae, acorus tatarinowii, rhizoma belamcandae, mechanism, agastache rugosus, cardamom) combined 20 mg dexamethasone iv, regularly reduced after seven days, 5 mg for maintenance and stopped when lesion was controlled. Topical therapy: (gallnut, fructus mume, pepper, chaulmoogra, cochinchina momordicae seed, calamine, Hibiscus syriacus, Sophora flavescens, cortex dictamni, senecio scandens) decoction for external application 3-4 times for one day.	Systemic therapy: 12 mg prednisone, once a day, appropriate antibiotics and protecting stomach medicine added according to the symptoms. Topical therapy: Gentian violet, nitrofurazone solution, permanganate armour, rivanol gauze for external application.
[15]	(White atractylodes rhizome, raw Gordon euryale seed, cortex phellodendri, Paeonia suffruticosa, raw hovenia dulcis, raw semen coicis, SevenlobedYam Rhizome, herba artemisiae scopariae, honeysuckle, cortex sclerotii poriae) combined prednisone.	Oral administration of prednisone.
[6]	Pemphigus I (Copitidis rihizoma, radix scutellariae, cortex phellodendri, Gardenia, honeysuckle, glabrous greenbrier rhizome, radix rehmanniae, coix seed, rhizoma atractylodis) combined glucocorticoids.	Glucocorticoids only
[16]	Tonifying kidney herb (Liuweidihuang pill) combined small doses of corticosteroids for maintenance treatment.	Only small doses of corticosteroids for maintenance treatment

(c)

Study	Treatment course	Outcome measure		Complications	Follow-up	Adverse event
		Clinical standards	Laboratory standards
[14]	More than six months	① The regression of the blister, fever, and the causalgiar, ② the treatment time, ③ relapse	No	Gastric ulcer, fungal infection, and osteoporosis	Not mentioned	Not mentioned
[15]	Two months	① The regression of the blister, ② the dosage of corticosteroids	No	No	Not mentioned	Not mentioned
[6]	Not mentioned	(1) The time used when the lesion was controlled,; (2) the highest dosage of corticosteroids used when the lesion was controlled	The titer of the antibodies and the level of IL-10, IFN-, and slL-2R	No	Not mentioned	One patient with subtotal gastrectomy experienced diarrhea.
[16]	14 days as one course of treatment, just one course every month	The lesion control rate (patients in stable condition and regressed)	No	Osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes, and peptic ulcer	Two years	Not mentioned