NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Chinese herbal medicine, commonly used to treat chronic hepatitis B in China, may be effective against the virus, particularly when combined with interferon medical treatment, according to an analysis of 27 studies published in Chinese-language medical journals and Western medical literature.

However, the researchers were unable to come to a "firm conclusion" because of the generally poor quality of studies of the subject, according to the report in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health, journal of the American Public Health Association.

The researchers used a database to comb through Chinese-language medical journals, which only recently became available. They reviewed studies that either compared Chinese herbal medicine with interferon, a protein that blocks virus reproduction, or that compared a combination of the two treatments with interferon alone. The Chinese herbal medicines used varied with each study and included anywhere from one herb to as many as 22 different herbs in combination.

In general, study findings indicate that patients treated with the combined Chinese herbal medicine and interferon therapy were twice as likely to have successful treatment of hepatitis B as those who were treated with interferon alone, the investigators report.

"The best outcomes were achieved by using interferon and Chinese herbs in combination," lead study author Michael McCulloch, a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health told Reuters Health. In this way it may be "possible to increase the effectiveness of interferon," he said.

Much of the Chinese-language research that showed this to be true, however, was of poor quality, McCulloch and his team report.

"Study quality is often a problem in Western medical journals as well, but this need is especially pronounced in the traditional Chinese medicine journals published in China," study co-author Dr. Jack Colford, Jr. told Reuters Health.

Further, when the two treatments were pitted against each other, the herbal medicine was found to be slightly more effective than the interferon treatment, the report indicates.

Yet, despite these findings, McCulloch and his team were unable to draw firm conclusions about the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine because of the poor quality of many of the Chinese-language studies, they report.

For example, the Chinese-language studies were highly condensed and omitted important details about the study design, such as whether the researchers used the tried-and-true "double-blind" study method or if patients and physicians were aware of who was receiving which treatment.

"We hope that our study will encourage medical researchers in China to provide more thorough reporting of treatment details and patient characteristics in their published studies," Colford said.

McCulloch added that patients with hepatitis B who are currently receiving interferon treatment should not discontinue their treatment. Those who are interested in supplementing the interferon with Chinese herbal medicine, however, should speak to a trained specialist and "review the proposed treatment plan with their doctor," he said.

An estimated 2 billion people throughout the world are infected with hepatitis B and 350 million people have the chronic form of the disease, which is associated with an increased risk of liver cancer, according to the report. Nearly three quarters of those with chronic hepatitis B live in Asia.

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health 2002;92:1619-1627.

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