Therapeutic Efficacy and Safety of Safflower Injection in the Treatment of Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background. Safflower injection (SFI), a popular Chinese patent drug, is commonly used to treat acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) in China. The research seeks to scientifically estimate the clinical efficacy of SFI for ACS patients. Methods. Eight electronic databases were retrieved for eligible research from the founding date to September 8, 2020. Odds ratio (OR) was adopted to assess the total effective rate, ECG improvement, and adverse reaction, and mean difference (MD) was used for assessing the hemorheology indexes as well as the LVEF. Results. Sixteen randomized controlled trials involving 1620 sufferers with ACS were incorporated. The outcomes showed that, in comparison to conventional medication alone, SFI combined with conventional treatment remarkably enhanced the total effective rate (OR = 3.66, 95% CI [2.73, 4.90], <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"> <a:mi>P</a:mi> <a:mo><</a:mo> <a:mn>0.00001</a:mn> </a:math> ), ECG improvement (OR = 2.85, 95% CI [2.04, 3.99], <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"> <c:mi>P</c:mi> <c:mo><</c:mo> <c:mn>0.00001</c:mn> </c:math> ), and LVEF (MD = 5.13, 95% CI [3.73, 6.53], <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"> <e:mi>P</e:mi> <e:mo><</e:mo> <e:mn>0.00001</e:mn> </e:math> ). Moreover, SFI combined with conventional treatment significantly decreased hemorheology indexes including BV (MD = −0.95, 95% CI [−1.76, −0.13], <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"> <g:mi>P</g:mi> <g:mo>=</g:mo> <g:mn>0.02</g:mn> </g:math> ), HCT (MD = −2.37, 95% CI [−3.25, −1.50], <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"> <i:mi>P</i:mi> <i:mo><</i:mo> <i:mn>0.00001</i:mn> </i:math> ), FIB (MD = −0.44, 95% CI [−0.60, −0.29], <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"> <k:mi>P</k:mi> <k:mo><</k:mo> <k:mn>0.00001</k:mn> </k:math> ), and PAR (OR = −7.65, 95% CI [−10.16, −5.14], <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"> <m:mi>P</m:mi> <m:mo><</m:mo> <m:mn>0.00001</m:mn> </m:math> ). However, no notable contrast was observed to link the experimental and the control team for PV (MD = −0.42, 95% CI [−0.83, 0.00], <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8"> <o:mi>P</o:mi> <o:mo>=</o:mo> <o:mn>0.05</o:mn> </o:math> ) and adverse reactions (OR = 0.59, 95% CI [0.13, 2.74], <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9"> <q:mi>P</q:mi> <q:mo>=</q:mo> <q:mn>0.50</q:mn> </q:math> ). Conclusion. Despite the limitations that existed in this meta-analysis, the outcomes demonstrated that SFI and conventional combined medication is an effective and relatively safe therapy for ACS sufferers.