ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Respiratory Physiology and Pathophysiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1601761
Clinical study on modified Shenzhe Zhenqi Decoction combined with ambroxol hydrochloride in the treatment of severe pneumonia
Provisionally accepted
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
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Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of modified Shenzhe Zhenqi Decoction combined with ambroxol hydrochloride in treating severe pneumonia.This was a single-center, prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. A total of 138 patients with severe pneumonia were randomly divided into two groups. The control group (n = 69) received ambroxol hydrochloride, while the observation group (n = 69) received modified Shenzhe Zhenqi Decoction combined with ambroxol hydrochloride. Clinical efficacy, Traditional Chinese Medicine symptom scores (fever, cough, expectoration, dyspnea), arterial blood gas indicators [oxygen saturation (SaO₂), partial pressure of oxygen (PaO₂), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO₂)], lung function [forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF)], and inflammatory markers [interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP)] were evaluated. Adverse events were recorded for both groups.Results: The overall efficacy rates in the combined and control groups were 98.55% and 89.86% (P < 0.05). After treatment, in both groups, symptom scores for fever, cough, expectoration, and dyspnea were reduced, with the combined group showing more significant improvement; SaO₂ and PaO₂ levels increased, and PaCO₂ decreased, with the combined group achieving greater improvement; FEV1, FVC, and PEF values increased, with higher values observed in the combined group; serum IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP levels decreased, with the combined group showing more substantial reductions (all P < 0.05). The incidence of adverse events was 4.35% in the combined group and 2.90% in the control group (P > 0.05).Modified Shenzhe Zhenqi Decoction combined with ambroxol hydrochloride demonstrated ideal clinical efficacy in treating severe pneumonia, alleviating symptoms and pulmonary inflammation and improving arterial blood gas indicators and lung function.
Keywords: Severe pneumonia, Shenzhe Zhenqi Decoction, Ambroxol hydrochloride, Blood gas indices, Lung function, Inflammatory factors
Received: 28 Mar 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xing, Shen, Lin, Li and Tan. 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: Wenjun Tan, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
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