Compound danshen dripping pills for non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy: Efficacy, mechanisms, and future directions

Table 1 Summary of key studies evaluating compound danshen dripping pills for non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Intervention	Study type	Number of patients/animals	Key outcomes (significant findings)	Safety profile	Ref.
CDDP monotherapy	Retrospective RCT	81 (NPDR, qi stagnation and blood stasis)	ORR: 87.50% vs 63.41% (captopril); reduced macular edema (12.50% vs 31.71%); improved visual acuity	No serious AEs; mild, transient side effects	[38]
CDDP monotherapy	Meta-analysis (26 RCTs)	2047 (NPDR)	RR = 0.54 (curative effect); reduced retinal hemorrhages (WMD = -0.62); improved visual acuity (WMD = 0.14)	No increased AE risk; mild side effects	[27]
CDDP + calcium dobesilate	Network meta-analysis (42 RCTs)	4858 (NPDR)	Highest clinical efficacy rate (SUCRA = 88.58%); improved visual field gray value; reduced macular thickness and VEGF levels	No serious AEs	[11,26]
CDDP + bezafibrate	Preclinical (db/db mice)	NA (animal model)	Reduced vascular leakage; improved retinal thickness; greater anti-oxidative effect than CDDP alone	No toxicity observed	[47]
CDDP + western medicine	Meta-analysis (8 RCTs)	524 (DR, including NPDR)	OR = 5.00 (effective rate); reduced visual field gray value (MD = -0.93); reduced hemorrhagic plaque area (MD = -0.65); improved visual acuity	Favorable safety profile; no serious AEs	[49,50]
CDDP monotherapy	Double-blind, placebo-controlled RCT	223 (NPDR)	FFA response rate: 74%-77% vs 28% (placebo); fundoscopic response rate: 42%-59% vs 11% (placebo)	No clinically significant AEs	[20]
CDDP vs calcium dobesilate	Double-dummy, double-blind RCT	57 (NPDR)	Improved BCVA, and reduced visual field MD, fundus hemorrhage area, and microaneurysm number; no significant difference vs calcium dobesilate	No obvious adverse events with clinical significance	[40]
CDDP monotherapy	Clinical trial	42 patients (78 eyes, NPDR I-III phase)	Improved visual acuity, reduced microhemorrhages and microaneurysms, shortened P100 wave and a/b wave latent period	Well-tolerated, no serious AEs	[45]
CDDP monotherapy	Meta-analysis (13 RCTs)	NA (pooled data from 13 RCTs)	Reduced DR progression risk (RR = 0.36); improved retinal microaneurysms (MD = -4.32) and visual function (MD = -0.12 letter)	No increased AE risk	[19]
CDDP + calcium dobesilate	Network meta-analysis (23 RCTs)	1824 (DR, including NPDR)	Enhanced BCVA; reduced macular thickness and VEGF levels vs calcium dobesilate alone	No serious AEs; safety profile comparable to control	[11]

The table highlights compound danshen dripping pills’s efficacy across different study designs, including monotherapy and combination therapy, and confirms its favorable safety profile across all evaluations. CDDP: Compound danshen dripping pills; RCT: Randomized controlled trial; NPDR: Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy; ORR: Overall response rate; AEs: Adverse events; RR: Risk ratio; WMD: Weighted mean difference; OR: Odds ratio; SUCRA: Surface under the cumulative ranking curve; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; NA: Not applicable; FFA: Fundus fluorescein angiography; DR: Diabetic retinopathy; MD: Mean defect; BCVA: Best corrected visual acuity.