Effects of Mokuboito, a Japanese Kampo medicine, on symptoms in patients hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure – A prospective randomized pilot study

Abstract Background Although standard treatment for heart failure (HF) has been established, it remains difficult to relieve HF-associated symptoms in some patients. Kampo medicines have been used to treat various diseases; however, it remains unclear whether they are effective in HF patients. We therefore performed a prospective, randomized, controlled trial to investigate whether Mokuboito, a Kampo medicine, affected symptoms and other parameters in hospitalized patients with acute decompensated HF (ADHF), as compared to standard therapy alone. Methods Forty patients were allocated randomly to Group S (standard therapy alone) or Group M (oral administration of Mokuboito plus standard therapy). The primary outcome was changes in global clinical status based on a visual analog scale (VAS) from baseline at day 10 or discharge if earlier. Results The decrease in VAS score was significantly greater in Group M than Group S ( p  = 0.001). Although there were no differences between the groups in changes in the secondary endpoints of body weight, peripheral edema, biochemical and echocardiographic parameters, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, and serum total bilirubin levels were significantly reduced in Group M ( p  = 0.038; 0.002, respectively) but not in Group S, implying that Mokuboito might attenuate organ congestion and cardiac preload. Conclusions Oral administration of Mokuboito significantly improved ADHF-related symptoms. Our observations might provide the basis for a novel therapeutic strategy in hospitalized patients with ADHF.