A total of 24 randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) were incorporated into this systematic review. The 2363 patients were all primary
osteoporosis patients, of whom 1197 were in the observation group and 1166 were in the control group. GSK
capsule group was superior to conventional medication group in improving beta
type I collagen carboxy-terminal
peptide (β-CTX) (MD - 0.28, 95% CI [- 0.31, - 0.25]), while in improving prepeptide of
type I procollagen (PINP), conventional medications group was superior to GSK
capsule group (MD - 1.37, 95% CI [- 1.92, - 0.82]), and there were no significant differences between the two groups in overall efficacy (OE) (OR 1.62, 95% CI [0.89, 2.98]), increase of bone mineral density (BMD) (lumbar spine: MD - 0.02, 95% CI [- 0.08, 0.04]; femoral neck: MD - 0.01, 95% CI [- 0.07, 0.05]; hip: MD 0.01, 95% CI [- 0.02, 0.02]), enhancement of
alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (MD - 1.37, 95% CI [- 13.29, 10.55]), serum
calcium (S-Ca) (MD 0.02, 95% CI [- 0.13, 0.17]), bone glutamyl
protein (BGP) (MD 3.75, 95% CI [- 12.26, 19.76]), safety (OR 0.37, 95% CI [0.07, 2.02]) and
pain relief (MD 0.32, 95% CI [- 0.59, 1.22]). GSK
capsule combined with conventional medications group was superior to conventional medications group in improvement of OE (OR 3.19, 95% CI [2.20, 4.63]), BMD (lumbar spine (MD 0.06, 95% CI [0.02, 0.10]), femoral neck (MD 0.08, 95% CI [0.03, 0.13]), hip (MD 0.14, 95% CI [0.08, 0.21]) and other parts (MD 0.04, 95% CI [0.03, 0.05]), ALP (MD - 5.56, 95% CI [- 10.08, - 1.04]), β-CTX (MD - 0.15, 95% CI [- 0.18, - 0.12]) and
pain relief (MD - 1.25, 95% CI [- 1.83, - 0.68]), but there was no difference in S-Ca (MD 0.02, 95% CI [- 0.13, 0.17]), BGP (MD 1.30, 95% CI [- 0.29, 2.89]), PINP (MD 1.30, 95% CI [- 0.29, 2.89]), serum
phosphorus (S-P) (MD 0.01, 95% CI [- 0.09, 0.12]) and safety (OR 0.71, 95% CI [0.38, 1.35]).
CONCLUSION: GSK capsules can effectively treat primary
osteoporosis, and when combined with conventional medications, the
drug significantly increased bone mineral density, relieved
pain and improved bone metabolism-related indicators in primary
osteoporosis patients with better efficacy. However, due to the inclusion of Chinese literature and possible publication bias, the reliability of conclusions still requires more high-quality RCTs to enhance.