Cholestasis is an important cause of
liver fibrosis and
cirrhosis.
Yinchenhao decoction has been used as a well-known
traditional Chinese medicine used in the treatment of
cholestasis for over 2,000 years. The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the preclinical evidence of
Yinchenhao decoction on
cholestasis models. The following databases were searched from inception to February 2020. Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP medicine information system, Wanfang Database, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched. The content concerned
Yinchenhao decoction on different animal model experiments for the treatment of
cholestasis. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed based on the SYstematic Review Center for Laboratory animal Experimentation Animal Experiment Bias Risk Assessment Tool. A meta-analysis was conducted with RevMan 5.3 software according to the Cochrane tool. Nineteen studies on a total of 404 animals were included with five kinds of experimental animal models. The results showed that serum total
bilirubin (TBIL), direct
bilirubin (DBIL), indirect
bilirubin and total
bile acid in the group treated with
Yinchenhao decoction were significantly lower than those in the model group (P < 0.00001). The
alanine aminotransferase (ALT),
aspartate aminotransferase and
alkaline phosphatase levels in the
Yinchenhao decoction group were also significantly reduced (P < 0.00001). The subgroup analysis of the different models showed that
Yinchenhao decoction had a significant effect on the bile duct
ligation model, and there was a significant reduction in TBIL, DBIL and ALT levels (P < 0.00001) in ANIT-induced
cholestasis. After 24 hours of
Yinchenhao decoction treatment, there was no significant difference in TBIL levels (P = 0.34), but after 48 and 72 hours of treatment, the TBIL levels were significantly reduced compared with the model group (P < 0.00001). There was no significant difference in DBIL after 48 hours of administration (P = 0.26), but compared with the model group,
Yinchenhao decoction could significantly reduce the DBIL levels after 48 hours of treatment (P < 0.0003).
Yinchenhao decoction could significantly reduce the ALT levels after 24, 48 and 72 hours (P < 0.006).
Yinchenhao decoction was able to significantly reduce the levels of TBIL, DBIL and ALT on different rat species: Wistar and Sprague Dawley (P = 0.0001; P = 0.0002). The preclinical evidence indicated that
Yinchenhao decoction might be a potent and promising agent for
cholestasis. Moreover, this conclusion should be further confirmed with more well-designed researches.