What does this research mean for the field?

Longdan Xiegan formula as an adjuvant therapy significantly improves hypertension management by reducing systolic blood pressure and other risk indices compared to control treatments. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.SYNTHESIS. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of Longdan Xiegan formula as an adjunctive treatment for hypertension.

February 22, 2026Open Access

Longdan Xiegan formula as adjuvant therapy for hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Key Result

Longdan Xiegan formula significantly improved blood pressure, lipid profiles, and symptoms in hypertensive patients compared to controls (P < .05) in 9 RCTs with 782 participants.

Key Points

The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of Longdan Xiegan formula as an adjunctive treatment for hypertension.
Conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies.
Included randomized controlled trials examining Longdan Xiegan formula for hypertension.
Performed a comprehensive search in multiple databases and assessed quality using the Cochrane system.
Incorporated nine studies with 782 participants.
Test group showed significantly better outcomes in systolic blood pressure and other indicators compared to control.
Results were statistically significant, suggesting Longdan Xiegan formula is effective in managing hypertension.

Structured PICO

Does Longdan Xiegan formula as adjuvant therapy improve clinical indicators and symptoms in patients with hypertension?

Population

782 participants with hypertension across 9 randomized controlled trials

Intervention

Longdan Xiegan formula as adjuvant therapy

Comparator

Control group (not further specified in abstract)

Outcome

Effective rate, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, heart rate, and traditional Chinese Medicine Symptom Scoresurrogate

Longdan Xiegan formula as an adjuvant therapy may improve blood pressure, lipid profiles, and symptom scores in patients with hypertension, though high-quality evidence is currently lacking.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%

Abstract

Background: Longdan Xiegan decoction, a classical formula in traditional Chinese medicine, has been increasingly utilized as an adjunctive therapy for hypertension. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Longdan Xiegan formula in the adjuvant management of hypertension. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in databases including CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, EMBase, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library, covering all publications from inception to May 2025. Two reviewers independently carried out study selection, data extraction, and methodological quality evaluation. Eligible for inclusion were randomized controlled trials examining the use of Longdan Xiegan formula in hypertension treatment. Meta-analysis was conducted with RevMan 5.3 software, and evidence quality was assessed according to the Cochrane system. Results: Nine studies were incorporated, involving 782 participants in total. These participants were randomly assigned to test and control groups. Outcome indicators included effective rate, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, heart rate, and traditional Chinese Medicine Symptom Score, etc. Following treatment, the test group showed significantly better indicators than the control group, with all differences being statistically significant ( P < .05). Conclusion: Longdan Xiegan formula demonstrates potential in accelerating symptom alleviation and contributing to the reduction of diverse risk indices in the management of hypertension. Nonetheless, given the scarcity of high quality studies, particularly a dearth of relevant research overseas, subsequent investigations should give precedence to large-sample, double-blind, randomized controlled trials. This will serve to fortify the theoretical framework and yield more compelling evidence for its clinical application.