Astragalus

In 48 seasonal allergic rhinitis patients over 3–6 weeks, astragalus-containing Lectranal 160 mg twice daily trended toward better rhinorrhea relief and physician-rated efficacy versus placebo.

In 20 angina patients over 2 weeks, astragalus increased cardiac output 5.1 to 5.95 L/min/m² but did not improve left ventricular diastolic function.

In 85 children with mild asthma over 6 months, a herbal formula including astragalus with cordyceps and skullcap did not improve symptoms, lung function, or steroid dose versus vitamins and ATP.

A meta-analysis of 8 RCTs found astragalus-containing therapy reduced cancer-related fatigue and improved quality of life in oncology patients versus control, though study quality was low.

A meta-analysis of 19 cervical cancer RCTs found astragalus-containing Chinese herbal medicine plus chemotherapy increased tumor response and performance status and reduced chemotherapy toxicity.

In 80 adults with chronic fatigue over 8 weeks, a cervus-elaphus, angelica, and astragalus complex improved fatigue scales and exercise time to exhaustion versus placebo.

In 75 chronic fatigue syndrome patients over 3 months, Lixu Jieyu decoction including astragalus improved fatigue symptoms and immune cell profiles more than vitamin B, ATP, and oryzanol.

A pilot RCT of 36 adults with chronic fatigue found that 3 g/day Myelophil (astragalus plus salvia extract) for 4 weeks significantly lowered fatigue severity versus control, with no cytokine changes.

In patients with type 2 diabetes, stage 2-3 chronic kidney disease and macroalbuminuria, oral astragalus granules (15 g/day raw herbs equivalent) for 48 weeks led to stabilisation of glomerular filtration rate but did not improve urinary albumin to creatinine ratio when compared to standard care alone.

A meta-analysis of 22 RCTs in 1,323 CKD patients found astragalus adjunct therapy lowered serum creatinine and 24-hour proteinuria and raised hemoglobin and albumin, though study quality was low.

A meta-analysis of 14 RCTs in 1,070 COPD patients found astragalus injection plus ambroxol as adjuvant therapy improved clinical response, oxygenation, and lung function versus standard care alone.

A meta-analysis of 11 low-quality RCTs in 1,086 cirrhosis patients found danshen plus astragalus (Huangqi) injection improved treatment response and reduced fibrosis markers versus control.

A meta-analysis of 48 RCTs in 3,759 diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients found astragalus-based TCM plus Western medicine reduced symptoms, IL-6, TNF-α, and glycemia versus Western medicine alone.

A meta-analysis of 20 RCTs in 953 type 2 diabetes patients found astragalus plus metformin lowered fasting glucose, postprandial glucose, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR compared with metformin alone.

A meta-analysis including 13 studies with a total of 1054 participants found that both oral and IV astragalus administration significantly reduced fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose (after a meal) but only oral astragalus significantly reduced fasting insulin and levels of HbA1c. Oral astragalus may be superior to IV astragalus as an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

An RCT of 40 healthy adults (~56 years) found 6 months of an astragalus-based supplement significantly lengthened median and short telomeres versus placebo, with no adverse events.

A meta-analysis of 19 Chinese RCTs found astragalus injection reduced inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6, CRP) and increased treatment response in viral myocarditis, with high heterogeneity.

An RCT of 48 acute viral myocarditis patients found combination Western medicine plus astragalus-containing TCM improved clinical symptoms and EV-RNA clearance better than conventional therapy alone.

A double-blind RCT of 68 hemorrhagic stroke patients (ages 30–75) found 3 g astragalus three times daily for 14 days improved functional independence and Glasgow outcome scores versus placebo.

A clinical trial in 80 ears with acute acoustic trauma found 10 days of intravenous astragalus improved hearing recovery and tinnitus resolution versus non-astragalus treatment (27 vs 21 ears regained normal hearing).

Oral astragalus 100 mg in combination with d-mannose, dandelion, prebiotics and vitamin c (twice per day for 5 days) improves the resolution of UTI symptoms and clearance at days 6 (34.3% vs 0%.) and 35 (88.6% vs. 20%) compared to placebo. Patients were given astragalus in addition to phenzaopyridine and alkalizing agents as standard of care. However, this study had a small sample size (n=70).