The effects of Shenqi Jiangtang granule combined with Western medicine on glucose and lipid metabolism in women with gestational diabetes mellitus

Objective To evaluate through meta-analysis the therapeutic efficacy, as well as changes in blood glucose and lipid metabolism in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) treated with Shenqi Jiangtang granule + Western medicine (SJG+WM). Methods Web of Science, PubMed, and three Chinese databases, namely China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data Knowledge Platform (Wanfang), and Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP Database), were searched to identify clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated SJG+WM treatment effects on women with GDM. Risk assessment criteria were used to evaluate the included studies, as recommended by the Cochrane systematic evaluation guide. Meta-analysis was performed using STATA 12.0 and RevMan5.3. Results A total of 2,743 participants were enrolled in 28 RCTs, 1372 (50.08%) in the WM treatment group and 1371 (49.92%) in the SJG+WM treatment group. The duration of treatment ranged from 2 to 14 weeks. Compared to WM treatment alone, SJG+WM could improve the therapeutic efficacy and the levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG) [mean difference (MD) = -0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI): -1.16 to -0.75, P < 0.00001], postprandial 2 h blood glucose (PBG) [MD = -1.46, 95% CI: -1.74 to -1.18), P < 0.00001], glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) [MD = -0.91, 95% CI: -1.14 to 0.68), P < 0.00001], total cholesterol (TC) [MD = -0.64, 95% CI: -0.81 to -0.48, P < 0.00001], and triglycerides (TG) [MD = -0.56, 95% CI: -0.74 to -0.38, P < 0.00001]. The funnel plot and Egger's test results showed that only four indicators, including the total efficiency rate, FBG, PBG, and HbA1c, had significant publication bias, indicating that the conclusions were reliable. Conclusion SJG+WM can significantly improve therapeutic efficacy and blood glucose and lipid metabolism in patients with GDM.