Treatment of signs and symptoms of the common cold using EPs 7630 - results of a meta-analysis

Andreas Schapowal; Gustav Dobos; Holger Cramer; Kian Chung Ong; Martin Adler; Andrea Zimmermann; Juliette Brandes-Schramm; Walter Lehmacher

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02904

Treatment of signs and symptoms of the common cold using EPs 7630 - results of a meta-analysis

Heliyon. 2019 Nov 26;5(11):e02904. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02904. eCollection 2019 Nov.

Authors

Andreas Schapowal¹, Gustav Dobos², Holger Cramer², Kian Chung Ong³, Martin Adler⁴, Andrea Zimmermann⁵, Juliette Brandes-Schramm⁵, Walter Lehmacher⁶

Affiliations

¹ Allergy Clinic, Hochwangstraβe 3, 7302 Landquart, Switzerland.
² Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Am Deimelsberg 34a, 45276 Essen, Germany.
³ KC Ong Chest & Medical Clinic, 3 Mount Elizabeth #12-03, Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Singapore 228510.
⁴ Institute of Integrative Medicine Siegen, University of Münster, Lärchenweg 27, 57078 Siegen, Germany.
⁵ Clinical Research, Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co. KG, Willmar-Schwabe-Straβe 4, 76227 Karlsruhe, Germany.
⁶ Emeritus, University of Cologne, Institute of Medical Statistics, Informatics and Epidemiology, Kerpener Straβe 62, 50931 Cologne, Germany.

Abstract

The efficacy of Pelargonium sidoides preparation EPs 7630 in the common cold (CC) was assessed by performing meta-analyses of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. Mean differences (MD) and risk ratios (RR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed. Five trials with a total of 833 patients were included. All trials had a treatment period of ten days with visits at days 3, 5, and 10 after baseline and used a ten-symptom Cold Intensity Score (CIS) as the primary outcome. Significant differences favoring EPs 7630 were observed for total CIS reduction (day 5: MD = -2·30; 95%CI = -4·12,-0·49; day 10: MD = -1·16; 95%CI = -2·22,-0·10), proportion of patients with substantial improvement (day 5: RR = 1·73; day 10: RR = 1·06) and complete remission (day 5: RR = 2·52; day 10: RR = 2·13). Subjects treated with EPs 7630 missed fewer days at work, used less paracetamol and had an improved sleep quality. No serious adverse reactions to EPs 7630 were reported. The results support the efficacy of EPs 7630 in adults with CC.

Keywords: Clinical research; Common cold; EPs 7630; Efficacy; Evidence-based medicine; Infectious disease; Meta-analysis; Pelargonium sidoides; Pharmacology; Respiratory system; Safety.

Publication types

Review