Chinese traditional herbs enhanced the clinical efficacy of low-molecular-weight heparin in the treatment of recurrent spontaneous abortion complicated with thrombophilia

Ye Tian; Zhujing Fu; Huizhen Lan; Xian Ma; Shuangyu Wu; Xuanle Zhou; Wendi Shen; Yiyun Lou

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13120

Chinese traditional herbs enhanced the clinical efficacy of low-molecular-weight heparin in the treatment of recurrent spontaneous abortion complicated with thrombophilia

Heliyon. 2023 Jan 23;9(2):e13120. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13120. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Ye Tian¹, Zhujing Fu¹, Huizhen Lan¹, Xian Ma², Shuangyu Wu¹, Xuanle Zhou¹, Wendi Shen¹, Yiyun Lou²

Affiliations

¹ Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, No.548, Binwen Road, Hangzhou 310053, China.
² Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hangzhou TCM Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, No.453, Tiyuchang Road, Hangzhou 310006, China.

Abstract

Thrombophilia is an important cause of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). The treatment of thrombophilia is beneficial to the prevention of RSA. Therefore, we explored the clinical effect of Chinese traditional herbs with the effects of invigorating the blood, tonifying the kidney and calming the fetus in the treatment of RSA complicated with thrombophilia. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes of 190 RSA patients combined with thrombophilia using different treatment methods. The traditional Chinese medicine group was treated with kidney-invigorating, blood-activating and fetus-soothing herbs and the western medicine group was treated with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), and the traditional Chinese medicine combined with western medicine group was treated with LMWH plus Chinese traditional herbs with the effects of kidney tonifying, blood activating and fetus stabilizing. After treatments, platelet aggregation rate, plasma D-dimer and uterine artery blood flow resistance were significantly reduced in the LMWH plus herbs compared to the simple herbs and LMWH group (P < 0.0167). The LMWH plus herbs group significantly accelerated the growth of fetal bud compared with other groups (P < 0.0167). Moreover, the LMWH plus herbs group improved traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores (P < 0.0167), showing a better clinical efficacy. Adverse reactions occurred in five patients in the LMWH group but not in the simple herbs and LMWH plus herbs group during the treatment period. Therefore, our study shows that for the treatment of RSA complicated with thrombophilia, Chinese traditional herbs plus LMWH can improve the blood supply of the uterus during pregnancy and contribute to a favorable environment for the growth of the fetus. Chinese traditional herbs exert a good curative effect with few adverse reactions.

Keywords: AA, Arachidonic acid; ADP, Adenosine diphosphate; CR, Complete response; D-D, D-dimer; LMWH, Low molecular weight heparin; Low molecular weight heparin; ORR, Overall response rate; PAgT, Platelet aggregation rate; PD, Progressive disease; PR, Partial response; RSA, Recurrent spontaneous abortion; Recurrent spontaneous abortion; SD, Stable disease; TCM, Traditional Chinese medicine; Thrombophilia; Traditional Chinese medicine; Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome; UtA-PI, Uterine artery blood flow pulsatility index; UtA-RI, Uterine artery blood flow resistance index; UtA-S/D, The ratio of peak systolic value to end diastolic value.