SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Geriatric Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1620264
Efficacy of Chinese Herbal Medicine in Patients with Osteoporosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
Jin Wang*
Fei Teng- Pizhou People's Hospital, Pizhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Current evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) supports the anti-osteoporotic properties of Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM); however, its therapeutic advantages over conventional treatments remain inconclusive. This study aimed to compare the therapeutic effects of CHM with those of conventional therapy in patients with osteoporosis, using a meta-analysis approach. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and Wanfang databases was conducted through March 2025 to identify eligible RCTs. The weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used as effect estimates, with pooled analyses calculated using a random-effects model. Additional exploratory analyses included sensitivity and subgroup analyses. Results: Eighteen RCTs involving a total of 1,816 patients with osteoporosis were included in the meta-analysis. CHM was associated with increased bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine (WMD: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.13; P < 0.001), femoral neck (WMD: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.17; P = 0.015), and Ward’s triangle area (WMD: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.15; P = 0.025). However, CHM showed no significant effect on BMD at the greater trochanter of the femur (WMD: 0.01; 95% CI: -0.03 to 0.05; P = 0.698). Additionally, CHM was not associated with changes in alkaline phosphatase (WMD: 0.98; 95% CI: -6.88 to 8.83; P = 0.808), serum calcium (WMD: 0.08; 95% CI: -0.09 to 0.25; P = 0.372), or serum phosphorus (WMD: -0.05; 95% CI: -0.22 to 0.12; P = 0.574). Conclusion: CHM was associated with significant improvements in BMD at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and Ward’s triangle area compared to conventional therapies, though the evidence is limited by moderate study quality and high heterogeneity. The findings suggest potential benefits of CHM in specific skeletal sites, but further rigorous trials are needed to confirm efficacy.
Keywords: Chinese herbal medicine, Osteoporosis, Systematic review, Meta-analysis, bone mineral density
Received: 29 Apr 2025; Accepted: 24 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang and Teng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jin Wang, Pizhou People's Hospital, Pizhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.