Table 2 The clinical/biological effects of Chinese herbal compounds for COVID-19 patients

Lianhua Qingwen prescription

Improved symptoms including fever, cough, muscle pain, fatigue and chest tightness

Single-center retrospective study

[12]

Shufeng Jiedu prescription

Time of defervescence ↓, disappear time of symptoms (dry cough, stuffy nose, runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, and diarrhea) ↓, time of SARS-CoV-2 turning negative ↓, clinical effectiveness ↑

Single-center retrospective study

[28]

Improvement in pneumonia associated symptoms

Case report

[29]

Time of defervescence ↓, white blood cell count ↑, lymphocyte percentage ↑, CRP ↓, IL-6 level ↓

Retrospective cohort study

[30]

Huoxiang Zhengqi formulation

Incidence of colds ↓, incidence of adverse events and adverse reactions ↓

Large cohort, prospective, randomized, and parallel-controlled study; randomized controlled trial

[35]

Improved symptoms (nausea, vomiting and limb soreness), utilization rate of anti-infective drugs ↓, proportion of cases progressed to severe disease ↓

Randomized controlled study

[36]

Qingfei Paidu Tang

Risk of in-hospital mortality ↓

National retrospective registry study

[41]

Improved creatine kinase, creatine kinase-myocardial band, lactate dehydrogenase, and blood urea nitrogen levels, CRP ↓

Single-center retrospective study

[42]

Median length of hospital stay and nucleic acid negative conversion ↓, sputum disappearance time ↓, chest CT absorption rate ↑

Multi-center retrospective study

[43]

ShuangHuangLian oral liquid

Nucleic acid negative conversion rate ↑, inflammatory focus absorption ↑

Randomized, open-label, parallel-controlled, multi-center trial

[51]

Jinhua Qinggan granule

Duration of nucleic acid negative conversion ↓, pneumonia recovery time ↓

Single-center retrospective study

[55]

Disappearance rate of clinical symptoms (fever, cough, fatigue, expectoration) ↑, anxiety score ↓

Prospective randomized controlled trial

[56]

ReYanNing mixture

Symptom scores (dry throat, cough, fatigue, chest tightness and headache) ↓, nucleic acid negative conversion rate ↑, median time to complete fever clearance ↓

Multi-center retrospective study

[57]

Huopu Xialing decoction

Improved liver function, viral nucleic acid and chest CT

Case report

[66]

XiaoChaiHu decoction

Disappearance rate of cough, sputum, shortness of breath, poor appetite and chills ↑, improvement rate of lung CT manifestations ↑

Single-center retrospective study

[69]

MaXingShiGan decoction

Effective rate ↑, antipyretic time ↓, cough disappearance time ↓

Prospective randomized controlled trial

[77]

Yupingfeng prescription

Shortened course of fever, cough and sputum, ameliorated symptoms such as fever, cough, sputum, painful pharynx, improved CRP and lung CT manifestations

Single-center retrospective study

[69]