A quasi-randomized control trial of a traditional Chinese medicine, Ren-Shen-Yang-Rong-Tang, in the treatment of uremic subjects with maintenance hemodialysis

Background: A quasi-randomized control trial was designed to investigate the effect of integrated Western Medicine (WM) and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ren-Shen-Yang-Rong-Tang (R-S-Y-R-T), in uremic subjects with maintenance hemodialysis. Materials and methods: Subjects following our criteria were enrolled. The subjects were then matched equally. The group WM+TCM was treated with R-S-Y-R-T, while the group WM was not. The duration of treatment was 6 months, with the first 4 months on WM+TCM, and the last 2 months on WM only. Samples of blood and questionnaire (The World Health Organization Quality of Life, Brief Version) were collected at intervals 0, 2, 4 and 6 month. Blood was tested for biochemical analysis and inflammation markers, and the questionnaire was used for evaluation of life quality. Results: First, a platform integrating WM with TCM for patient safety and experiment efficacy was proposed. As for the results of biochemical analysis, the serum level of albumin in group WM+TCM was significantly higher than that of group WM at month 4. The serum level of triglyceride, GPT and Hct showed improvement in group WM+TCM, but had no significant change when compared to group WM. Furthermore, regarding inflammation markers, TNF-á and IL-6 showed statistical improvement in group WM+TCM when compared to group WM. Regarding the quality of life, group WM+TCM showed significant improvement when compared to that of group WM. Conclusions In short-term treatment, the TCM, R-S-Y-R-T, had no significant side effects for uremic subjects, and showed significant improvement regarding quality of life, TNF-á, IL-6 and serum albumin.