Ginkgo is effective in treating pulmonary interstitial fibrosis. - GreenMedInfo Summary

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of ginkgo extract on pulmonary interstitial fibrosis. METHODS: Forty-five patients with pulmonary interstitial fibrosis were randomly divided into two groups, the treated group (n = 30) received ginkgo biloba extract 1 g, three times a day; the control group received prednisone 30 mg, once a day, the therapeutic course for both groups was 3 months. Changes of clinical symptoms, pulmonary function, arterial partial pressure of oxygen, computerized tomography (CT), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-alpha) in the two groups were observed before and after treatment. RESULTS: The efficacy of treatment in the two groups showed insignificant difference, clinical symptoms, pulmonary function, arterial partial pressure of oxygen were improved after treatment (P < 0.05), and the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha significantly decreased after treatment as compared with those before treatment in the two groups. The occurrence of pulmonary infection was less in the treated group than that in the control group (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: Ginkgo is effective in treating pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.