Clinical Study of Qingguo Zhike Granules Combined with Conventional Western Medical Therapy for Wind-Warm Lung-Heat Disease (Community-Acquired Pneumonia)

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effects and safety of Qingguo Zhike Granules, when added to conventional Western medical therapy, on symptoms, signs, inflammatory markers, and clinical outcomes in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) presenting with a wind-warm lung-heat pattern. Methods: Sixty patients with CAP admitted to the emergency ward, emergency observation unit, or Department of Respiratory Medicine of Neijiang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sichuan Province, from February 2023 to February 2024 were enrolled. Eligible patients met both the Western diagnostic criteria for CAP and the traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic criteria for the wind-warm lung-heat pattern. Patients were assigned by a random-number table in a 1:1 ratio to a treatment group or a control group, with 30 patients in each group. Both groups received standard Western medical therapy for CAP. The treatment group additionally received Qingguo Zhike Granules (12 g per sachet, one sachet each time, three times daily) for 7 consecutive days. The two groups were compared for time to disappearance of core symptoms (length of hospital stay and time to resolution of cough, expectoration, and throat itching), cough and expectoration scores, lung rale score, body temperature, and TCM syndrome score. White blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil percentage (NEUT%), C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) were measured, and adverse reactions were recorded. Results: Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups (P > 0.05). After treatment, cough score, expectoration score, lung rale score, and TCM syndrome score decreased significantly in both groups (all P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the treatment group had a shorter hospital stay and shorter times to resolution of cough, expectoration, and throat itching (all P < 0.05). After treatment, cough, expectoration, and lung rale scores were lower in the treatment group (all P < 0.05), and the TCM syndrome score was also lower (P < 0.001). When improvement was assessed by the change from baseline (Δ), the reductions in cough score, expectoration score, lung rale score, and TCM syndrome score were greater in the treatment group than in the control group (all P < 0.05). WBC, NEUT%, CRP, and PCT decreased significantly after treatment in both groups (all P < 0.05), but neither post-treatment levels nor Δ values differed significantly between groups (P > 0.05). The total effective rates were 96% and 93% in the treatment and control groups, respectively, with no significant between-group difference (P > 0.05). No obvious adverse reactions were observed during the study. Conclusion: The addition of Qingguo Zhike Granules to conventional Western medical therapy may further accelerate and deepen the relief of cough, expectoration, throat itching, and lung rales in patients with CAP of the wind-warm lung-heat pattern. The combined regimen increased the magnitude of symptom and sign improvement and shortened the time to disappearance of core symptoms, although it did not provide a significant additional reduction in routine inflammatory markers. The regimen showed good safety and may serve as a useful adjunct to integrated traditional Chinese and Western treatment for CAP.