Comparing Ginseng and Gentamicin as Components of Regimen for Alleviating Clinical Symptoms of Brucellosis and its Recurrence Rate

One of the common regimens in treating human brucellosis is a combination of rifampicin and doxycycline. Based on several studies, administration of gentamicin in addition to these two agents for 5 to 7 days leads to clinical improvement. This study aimed to use Ginseng instead of gentamicin in combination with rifampin and doxycycline in treatment of acute brucellosis.

In this clinical trial, conducted from April 2014 to August 2015, patients with acute brucellosis referred to Vali-e-Asr Hospital and Imam Reza Clinic in the city of Arak and undergoing treatment with standard doxycycline and rifampin were randomly assigned to one of the two adjuvant treatment groups of gentamicin and ginseng after obtaining informed consents. All the patients were evaluated for clinical response at days 0, 3, 7 and 14 and were followed for recurrence till 9 months after the treatment initiation.

61 patients completed the study. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of demographic characteristics of the patients. The most prevalent symptoms were fever (in 55 patients = 90.2%), sweating (in 47 patients = 77.1%), constitutional symptoms (in 45 patients = 73.8%) and arthritis and arthralgia (in 43 patients = 70.5%). The functions of the ginseng and gentamicin groups in reducing fever (P-value=0.883), sweating (P-value=0.701), constitutional symptoms (P-value=0.825), arthritis and arthralgia (P-value=0.890) and CRP (P-value=0.980) were almost the same during the treatment and there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of relapse rate in the following nine months (P-value=0.693).

Ginseng may alleviate clinical symptoms of patients and increase patients’ compliance with the treatment. Additionally, it has no serious side effects compared to gentamicin.