Objective: To observe the clinical effect of Shengxueling Granule (SXLG) in treating idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and to study its possible mechanism.
Methods: Eighty-six cases of ITP were divided into two groups randomly. Fifty-six cases in the treatment group were treated with SXLG, a traditional Chinese medicine, and 30 cases administered with Western medicine (prednisone) were taken as control. Patients in each group took drugs for three months and were under follow-up observation.
Results: In SXLG-treated group, the total effective rate in 3 months was 85.71%, similar to 83.33% in prednisone-treated group (P>0.05), while the total effective rate in 6 months in the SXLG-treated group was 91.07%, higher than 53.33% of the prednisone-treated group (P<0.01), and no obvious side-effects were observed. The patients' bleeding was alleviated or stopped, and their general condition was improved. And the blood platelet count (BPC) was increased, the platelet associated immunoglobulin (PAIg) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) were markedly dropped, the level of natural killer cells activity (NKCA) increased, and the rate of T lymphocyte subsets gradually returned to normal level. Megakaryocytes tended toward maturation on bone marrow smear after SXLG treatment. All differences above were statistically significant.
Conclusion: SXLG is an effective and safe medicine for ITP. It can regulate the cellular immunity, inhibit the platelet antibody to reduce the destruction of the platelet and to increase the number of platelet, promote the differentiation and maturation of megakaryocyte, facilitate the production and release of platelet, lower the fragility of capillary, and prevent the hemorrhagic tendency.