Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is major global health problem. In China, where about 120,000,000 persons are chronically infected, CHB has been treated for centuries with traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). The >aim of this review was to summarize and meta-analyze critically the results of randomized, controlled, clinical trials (RCTs) of TCM formulations reported from China in 1998--2008 for treatment of CHB. RCTs comparing either TCM formulations alone or in combination with interferon or lamivudine (IFN/LAM) versus IFN or LAM were included. The Chinese electronic databases were searched. The methodological quality of RCTs was assessed by the Jadad-scale. >Results: (i) TCM had a greater beneficial effect (p = 0.0003) than IFN and slightly better effect (p = 0.01) than LAM on normalization of serum ALT. (ii) TCM had a similar beneficial effect when compared with IFN or LAM for CHB on antiviral activity as evidenced by the loss of serum HBeAg and HBV DNA. (iii) TCM enhanced IFN and LAM anti-viral activities and improvements of liver function. Quality of many studies was poor; often, reports lacked information regarding methods of randomization or blinding, and adverse events. In >conclusion, some TCM seem effective as alternative remedies for patients with CHB suggesting that further study of TCM in the treatment of CHB is warranted, both in pre-clinical models of HBV infection and in higher quality RCTs world-wide.
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