Canonical Chinese medicine formula Danzhi-Xiaoyao-San for treating depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Danzhi-Xiaoyao-San (DXS), as a canonical Chinese medicine formula, possessing the functions of the soothing liver, invigorating spleen, clearing heat, and cooling blood, has been widely used for the treatment of depression.& nbsp;Aim of the study: This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials aimed to examine the efficacy of DXS in depression.& nbsp;Materials and methods: We performed a literature search in several databases, e.g., PUBMED, until August 2021 and conducted the meta-analysis using Review Manager 5.3 software. The random-effects model and fixed-effects model were used to synthetize extracted data.& nbsp;Results: Finally, this meta-analysis showed that comparing with antidepressants, DXS exhibited similar effect to antidepressants in the clinical comprehensive effect [RR = 1.04, 95% CI (0.77, 1.40); P = 0.81] and decrease in Self-Rating Depression Scale scores [WMD = 0.89, 95% CI (-6.33, 8.11); P = 0.81], while lower effect in Hamilton Depression Scale scores [SMD =-0.29, 95% CI (-0.55,-0.03); P = 0.03]; Furthermore, DXS plus antidepressants can significantly improve the clinical comprehensive effect [RR = 1.23, 95% CI (1.17, 1.29); P < 0.00001] and decrease the Hamilton Depression Scale scores [SMD = 1.04, 95% CI (0.51, 1.58); P = 0.0001] than pure antidepressants.& nbsp;Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis approved an efficient role of DXS in improving depression in clinical randomized controlled trials. However, further evidence from large samples and high-quality randomized controlled trials is needed to be investigated for a reliable conclusion about DXS in the treatment of depression.

Automated summary

This systematic review and meta-analysis found that Danzhi-Xiaoyao-San (DXS) had a similar effect to antidepressants in terms of clinical comprehensive effect and decrease in Self-Rating Depression Scale scores, but had a lower effect in Hamilton Depression Scale scores. Furthermore, the combination of DXS and antidepressants showed significant improvement in clinical comprehensive effect and decrease in Hamilton Depression Scale scores compared to pure antidepressants.