Antiretroviral therapy is currently recognized as the only effective therapy to inhibit HIV replication and partially reconstruct the immune function of HIV/AIDS patients. However, with the extensive development of ART treatment and the prolongation of the treatment time, we also have observed that these drugs have certain side effects. Many patients have a variety of adverse reactions after taking drugs, and many patients have drug resistance. Years of experience in the prevention and treatment of AIDS by traditional Chinese medicine suggests that TCM has played a relatively positive role in alleviating symptoms and signs (including the side effects of ART treatment), improving patients’ immunity, and then improving patients' compliance and quality of life. Therefore, our center has carried out an attempt to treat patients with Tang Herb alone or in combination with ART drugs.

Tang Herb is a new traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. In the prescription, Wild Honeysuckle Flower, the property of it is luscious and cold with clear smell. The cold can clear heat and detoxify, the luscious can nourish blood and replenish deficiency, and is good at detoxifying. This product can clear the heat of qi and blood, and relieve the poison in blood, "clear heat without hurting qi, detoxify without hurting Yin", and has the power of clearing and dispersing. Milkvetch Root, Suberect Spatholobus Stem, liquorice root these ingredients can tonify qi nourish blood, rise Yang and detoxify, strengthen body resistance and eliminate pathogen. Milkvetch Root is luscious and slightly warm, tonic in the soil, as early as in the "Divine Farmer’s Classic of Materia Medica", that is, "the main carbuncle gangrene, long-term sores, children’s diseases" is the preferred drug to enhance and repair the immune function of the body. The cause of AIDS is "hiding toxin", so Geranium wilfordii Maxim, Hedyotis diffusa Willd, Gossampinus malabarica (DC.)Merr. flower, Portulaca oleracea L., Figwort flower Picrorhiza Rhizome are composed of heat-clearing and detoxification, and the whole scorpion is to treat the malignant disease with poisonous agents. Water chestnut, Radix oryzae glutinosae, liquorice root work together to nourish stomach and hidroschesis. The function of Medicine Terminalia and pomegranate peel is acid astringent and solid intestine antidiarrhea. The function of Pericarpium Trichosanthis is to moist lung phlegmand to treat cough. Safflower and ginkgo leaves are to promote blood stasis. Chinese Thorowax Root and Elsholtzia haichowensis smell light, aromatic catharsis, lead pathogenic heat out.

Through our clinical observation, the safety of Tang Herb is worthy of affirmation. Except for 2 patients who had increased stool frequency after taking the medicine, the symptoms and signs of most patients were improved. The total effective rate of the improvement of symptoms and sign score was 81.82%. In addition, we also observed the changes of CD4+T lymphocytes before and after treatment. The overall effective rate of the Tang Herb group was 63.64% , and the effective rate of the combined western medicine treatment group was 92.31%. Although there was no statistically significant difference in CD4+T lymphocytes before and after treatment, this may be related to the large difference in CD4+T lymphocytes in patients before treatment (CD4+T lymphocyte count in the Tang Herb group minimum 126/mm3, maximum 403/mm3; in the combined treatment group minimum 18/mm3, maximum 354/mm3) and the small number of cases. Therefore, we believe that the combination of traditional Chinese and western medicine treatment of HIV/AIDS has broad prospects and requires more in-depth and more detailed studies.