ReviewPharmacology & therapeutics2021
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the treatment of COVID-19 and other viral infections: Efficacies and mechanisms.
Review in Pharmacology & therapeutics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 275 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
275 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 549 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Restoroing the immune balance of mild-to-moderate Patients with new coronavirus.Indian journal of pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Traditional Chinese medicine in influenza treatment: a bibliometric analysis integrating multiple databases.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Advances in NLRP3 inflammasome research in viral infections: evolution, trends, and future directions.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine for post-COVID-19 syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Potential Effects of Bioactive Compounds of Plant-Based Foods and Medicinal Plants in Chronic Kidney Disease and Dialysis: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Evidence Construction of Chuankezhi Injection Against Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Systematic Review and Network Pharmacology.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2024Pooled it
- Use of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients: An evidence mapping study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- An updated meta-analysis of Chinese herbal medicine for the prevention of COVID-19 based on Western-Eastern medicine.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Combination of Chinese herbal medicine and conventional western medicine for coronavirus disease 2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Jieji Xuanfei Chuyi granules in the treatment of COVID-19: A randomized, open-label, parallel-controlled clinical trial.Medicine · 2025Trial
- Comparative clinical trial of Langenlianqiao oral liquid and Lianhuaqingwen capsule in the treatment of mild cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2024Trial
- Effectiveness and safety of acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomised controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Trial
- Traditional Chinese Medicine Erhuang Suppository for Treatment of Persistent High-risk Human Papillomavirus Infection and Its Impact on Transcriptome of Uterine Cervix.Current medical science · 2024Trial
- Efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine to prevent and treat COVID-19 household close contacts in Hong Kong: an open-label, randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Trial
- Sustainable valorization of traditional Chinese medicine residues via semi-permeable membrane composting: the impacts of nitrogen sources.Biodegradation · 2026Article
- Natural killer cells against viral infection: from basic biology to immunotherapy.Precision clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Metabolic Mechanisms of Modified Lingguizhugan Decoction in Obesity and Lipid Metabolism Disorders: A Multi-Omics Approach.Obesity science & practice · 2026Article
215 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
COVID-19 has remained an uncontained, worldwide pandemic. While battling for the disease in China, six Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recipes have been shown to be remarkably effective for treating patients with COVID-19. The present review discusses principles of TCM in curing infectious disease, and clinical evidence and mechanisms of the 6 most effective TCM recipes used in treating COVID-19 in 92% of all of the confirmed cases in China. Applications of TCM and specific recipes in the treatment of other viral infections, such as those caused by SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, influenza A virus (including H1N1 and H7N9), influenza B, dengue virus as well as Ebola virus, are also discussed. Among the 6 TCM recipes, Jinhua Qinggan (JHQG) granules and Lianhua Qingwen (LHQW) capsules are recommended during medical observation; Lung Cleansing and Detoxifying Decoction (LCDD) is recommended for the treatment of both severe and non-severe patients; Xuanfeibaidu (XFBD) granules are recommended for treating moderate cases; while Huashibaidu (HSBD) and Xuebijing (XBJ) have been used in managing severe cases effectively. The common components and the active ingredients of the six TCM recipes have been summarized to reveal most promising drug candidates. The potential molecular mechanisms of the active ingredients in the six TCM recipes that target ACE2, 3CL
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.