Abstract
Shenmai injection (SMI) is widely applied in clinical practice as an organ protector. This overview is to evaluate the current evidence from systematic reviews (SRs) of SMI for healthcare. The literature searches were carried out in 6 databases without language restrictions until December 2012. The quality of the primary studies from the respective SRs was evaluated by using Jadad score. The overview quality assessment questionnaire (OQAQ) was used to evaluate the methodological quality of all included SRs. Twenty eligible SRs were identified. They reported a wide range of conditions, including SMI for cardio/cerebrovascular diseases, viral myocarditis, tumor chemotherapy, and adverse drug reactions. Most of the primary studies were of good quality only in 1 SR of non-small-cell lung cancer. According to the OQAQ scores, the quality of included SRs was variable and six reviews were of high quality with a score of 5 points. Two SRs showed that SMI had low adverse drug reaction occurrence. In conclusion, there is mixed evidence to support efficacy of SMI for an adjunct therapy to tumor chemotherapy and premature evidence for the use of SMI for cardio/cerebrovascular disorders and viral myocarditis. SMI seems generally safe for clinical application. Further large sample-size and well-designed RCTs are needed.
Highlights
Shenmai injection (SMI) is derived from the famous traditional Chinese herbal prescription Shendong yin, whose formulation was first recorded in Zhengyin Maizhi (Pattern, Cause, Pulse, and Treatment) by Jing-Ming Qin in 1702 AD [1]
Of the 20 eligible studies, two systematic reviews were focused on the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of SMI [32, 33], which we would analysis in a separate part
The first authors of all included trials were from China and were affiliated to academic institutions. They reported a wide range of conditions, including viral myocarditis (n = 4), acute myocardial infarction (n = 3), acute cerebral infarction (n = 3), tumor (SMI as an adjunct therapy to chemotherapy) (n = 2), coronary heart disease (n = 3), chronic cor pulmonale (n = 1), dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 1), and heart failure (n = 1)
Summary
Shenmai injection (SMI) is derived from the famous traditional Chinese herbal prescription Shendong yin, whose formulation was first recorded in Zhengyin Maizhi (Pattern, Cause, Pulse, and Treatment) by Jing-Ming Qin in 1702 AD [1]. Using Chinese herbal medicine as injections is an innovation that has been proved to be effective in extensive clinical use in Mainland China. Nowadays SMI has become a famous Chinese patent injection and has been widely applied in clinical practice as an organ protector [3, 6]. Several systematic reviews have been conducted to evaluate SMI for a wide range of conditions in clinical practice, including viral myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, acute cerebral infarction, tumor The objective of this overview is to critically summarize and evaluate systematic reviews of SMI for healthcare
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
