Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapy on the Trend in CD4+ T-Cell Counts among Patients with HIV/AIDS Treated with Antiretroviral Therapy: A Retrospective Cohort Study. (16th July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Dongli; Ma, Suna; Ma, Yanmin; Guo, Huijun; Li, Pengyu; Yang, Chunling; Xu, Qianlei; Liu, Zhibin; Jin, Yantao
• Other Names: Yang Longfei Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine. Volume 2021(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07-16
• Subjects: Alternative medicine -- Periodicals; 615.505
• DOI: 10.1155/2021/5576612
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1741-427X

Abstract

Abstract : This retrospective cohort study was conducted to explore the effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy on the long-term trends in CD4 + T-cell count among patients with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) who were treated with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) over a 14-year period. A total of 721 individuals were treated with cART alone (cART group), and 307 individuals were treated with both cART and TCM (TCM + cART group). Among all enrolled patients with HIV/AIDS, 99.5% were farmers, 71.1% had more than 6 years of education, and 96.8% were infected with HIV via a paid blood donation. For those patients with HIV/AIDS who had a baseline CD4 + T-cell count of <350 cells/mL, the CD4 + T-cell count tended to increase to approximately 350 cells/mL more rapidly in the TCM + cART group than in the cART group, but when the baseline CD4 + T-cell count was ≥350 cells/mL, there was no difference between the cART and TCM + cART groups. For other patients with HIV/AIDS who had a baseline CD4 + T-cell count of 350–500 cells/mL, the CD4 + T-cell counts tended to increase slightly, but there was no difference between the two groups. For patients with HIV/AIDS who had a baseline CD4 + T-cell count of ≥500 cells/mL, the CD4 + T-cell counts tended to be maintained at a particular level, with no difference between the two groups. The results show that the effect of TCM on the CD4 + T-cell counts of patients with HIV/AIDS is related to the CD4 + T-cell level at the time of initial treatment. TCM can increase the CD4 + T-cell count among patients with HIV/AIDS who have a baseline CD4 + T-cell count of <350 cells/mL. Sex and age have a slight influence on the therapeutic effect of TCM.