TY - JOUR
T1 - Huperzine A for treatment of cognitive impairment in major depressive disorder: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials
AU - Zheng, W.
AU - Xiang, Y.Q.
AU - Ungvari, Gabor S.
AU - Chiu, H.F.k.
AU - Ng, C.H.
AU - Wang, Y.
AU - Xiang, Y.T.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Copyright © 2016 by Editorial Department of the Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry.Background: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors have been shown to be effective in treating cognitive impairment in animal models and in human subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD). Huperzine A (HupA), a Traditional Chinese Medicine derived from a genus of clubmosses known as Huperzineserrata, is a powerful AChE inhibitor that has been used as an adjunctive treatment for MDD, but no meta-analysis on HupA augmentation for MDD has yet been reported. Aim: Conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTS) about HupA augmentation in the treatment of MDD to evaluate its efficacy and safety. Methods: Two evaluators independently searched nine English-language and Chinese-language databases, selected relevant studies that met pre-determined inclusion criteria, extracted data about outcome and safety, and conducted quality assessments and data synthesis. Results: Three low-quality RCTs (pooled n=238) from China were identified that compared monotherapy antidepressant treatment for depression versus combined treatment with antidepressants and HupA. Participants in the studies ranged from 16 to 60 years of age. The average duration of adjunctive antidepressant and HupA treatment in the studies was only 6.7 weeks. All three studies were open label and non-blinded, so their overall quality was judged as poor. Meta-analysis of the pooled sample found no significant difference in the improvement in depressive symptoms between the two groups (weighted mean difference: -1.90 (95%CI: -4.23, 0.44), p=0.11). However, the adjunctive HupA group did have significantly greater improvement than the antidepressant only group in cognitive functioning (as assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised) and in quality of life. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse drug reactions between groups. Conclusions: The data available on the effectiveness and safety
AB - Copyright © 2016 by Editorial Department of the Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry.Background: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors have been shown to be effective in treating cognitive impairment in animal models and in human subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD). Huperzine A (HupA), a Traditional Chinese Medicine derived from a genus of clubmosses known as Huperzineserrata, is a powerful AChE inhibitor that has been used as an adjunctive treatment for MDD, but no meta-analysis on HupA augmentation for MDD has yet been reported. Aim: Conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTS) about HupA augmentation in the treatment of MDD to evaluate its efficacy and safety. Methods: Two evaluators independently searched nine English-language and Chinese-language databases, selected relevant studies that met pre-determined inclusion criteria, extracted data about outcome and safety, and conducted quality assessments and data synthesis. Results: Three low-quality RCTs (pooled n=238) from China were identified that compared monotherapy antidepressant treatment for depression versus combined treatment with antidepressants and HupA. Participants in the studies ranged from 16 to 60 years of age. The average duration of adjunctive antidepressant and HupA treatment in the studies was only 6.7 weeks. All three studies were open label and non-blinded, so their overall quality was judged as poor. Meta-analysis of the pooled sample found no significant difference in the improvement in depressive symptoms between the two groups (weighted mean difference: -1.90 (95%CI: -4.23, 0.44), p=0.11). However, the adjunctive HupA group did have significantly greater improvement than the antidepressant only group in cognitive functioning (as assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised) and in quality of life. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse drug reactions between groups. Conclusions: The data available on the effectiveness and safety
U2 - 10.11919/j.issn.1002-0829.216003
DO - 10.11919/j.issn.1002-0829.216003
M3 - Article
C2 - 27605862
VL - 28
SP - 64
EP - 71
JO - Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry
JF - Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry
SN - 1002-0829
IS - 2
ER -