Clinical Effect of Bushen Shengxue Prescription on Chronic Aplastic Anemia and Its Effect on T Cell Subsets and Expression of T-bet and GATA3 / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy of Bushen Shengxue prescription and Yiqi Yangxue prescription in the treatment of chronic aplastic anemia and the effect on T cell subsets and the expression of T-box expressed in T cells （T-bet） and GATA binding protein 3 （GATA3）. MethodA total of 585 patients with chronic aplastic anemia who were treated in 19 hospitals in China from May 2018 to June 2021 were enrolled. With the prospective， double-blind and randomized control methods， the patients were randomized into three groups： kidney deficiency group， Qi and blood deficiency group， and control group. The three groups were respectively treated with Bushen Shengxue prescription granule， Yiqi Yangxue prescription granule， and Placebo （half the dose of Bushen Shengxue formula granules）. In addition， all of them were given oral cyclosporin and androgen. The treatment lasted 6 months， with 3 months as a course. The blood routine indexes， T cell subsets， and fusion genes T-bet and GATA3 before and after treatment were analyzed， and the safety indexes were monitored. ResultDuring the observation， a total of 75 cases dropped out and 18 were rejected. Finally， 161 cases in the kidney deficiency group， 164 in the Qi and blood deficiency group， and 167 in the control group were included. After 6 months of treatment， the total effective rate was 98.8% （159/161） in the kidney deficiency group， which was higher than the 79.9% （131/164） in the Qi and blood deficiency group （χ2=30.135， P<0.01） and the 61.7% （103/167） in the control group （χ2=70.126， P<0.01）. The total effective rate was higher in the Qi and blood deficiency group than in the control group （χ2=13.232， P<0.01）. After treatment， the hemoglobin （HGB） content increased significantly in three groups （P<0.05） as compared with that before treatment， particularly the kidney deficiency group （P<0.01）. After treatment， the white blood cell （WBC） count and platelet （PLT） count in the kidney deficiency group and the control group increased compared with those in the Qi and blood deficiency group （P<0.01）. There was no specific difference in neutrophils （ANC） after treatment among the three groups. At the same time point， the level of T helper type 1 （Th1） cells， Th1/Th2 ratio （P<0.05）， level of CD4+， and CD4+/CD8+ ratio （P<0.05） were significantly low in the kidney deficiency group among three groups. There was no significant difference in CD19-， HLA/DR+， and CD25+ between the kidney deficiency group and the other two groups， but the T-bet of the kidney deficiency group and the control group was lower than that of the Qi and blood deficiency group （P<0.05）. ConclusionBushen Shengxue prescription exerts therapeutic effect on the aplastic anemia by improving the immunoregulatory mechanism， inhibiting the activity of immune system， modulating T cell subsets， suppressing Th1 and CD4+， and promoting bone marrow hematopoiesis. Moreover， it is safe with little side effects， which is worthy of further promotion.