Effectiveness of tonifying-kidney and regulating-liver therapy on diminished ovarian reserve: a systematic review and Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Traditional Chinese Medicine tonifying-kidney and regulating-liver therapy on diminished ovarian reserve(DOR).METHODS: The literature was comprehensively searched up to August 2019 using four Chinese and three English electronic databases to extract randomized clinical trials(RCTs) comparing Traditional Chinese Medicine tonifying-kidney and regulating-liver prescriptions(combined with hormone therapy or not) with Western Medicine. Data quality evaluation was conducted using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Meta-analysis was conducted using Revman 5.3 software with effect estimates presented as mean difference(MD), risk ratio(RR), and95% confidence interval(CI).RESULTS: A total of nine RCTs with 512 participants were extracted and eligible for Meta-analysis.There were no significant differences between Chinese medicine and Western Medicine on basal serum follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH) level(MD0.11, 95% CI-0.52 to 0.74, 392 participants, seven trials), anti-Müllerian hormone level(MD 0.48, 95%CI-0.62 to 1.58, 95 participants, two trials), and the FSH and luteinizing hormone ratio(MD 0.01,95% CI-0.95 to 0.96, 115 participants, two trials).Chinese medicine was more effective at improving Traditional Chinese Medicine symptom scores(TCMSS)(MD-2.39, 95% CI-3.83 to-0.94, 160 participants, three trials), effective rate of TCMSS(RR1.18, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.36, 160 participants, three trials), antral follicle count(AFC)(MD 0.55, 95% CI 0.05 to 1.04, 155 participants, three trials), and FSH levels at 3 months post-treatment(MD-4.77, 95% CI-6.09 to-3.45, 137 participants, two trials).CONCLUSION: Compared with Western Medicine,tonifying-kidney and regulating-liver therapy is more effective at relieving symptoms and improving AFC and FSH at 3 months post-treatment.