Clinical effect of enriching qi, activating blood circulation, clearing away dampness and heat combined with western medicine in the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy: A meta-analysis

Objective:To systemically review the efficacy and safety about the method of enriching qi,activating blood circulation,clearing away dampness and heat combined with western medicine in the therapy of patients with idiopathy membranous nephropathy(IMN).Methods:We collected the randomized controlled trials(RCTs)of enriching qi,activating blood circulation,clearing away dampness and heat for the treatment of IMN from Pub Med,The Cochrane Library,Medline,China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),China Biology Medicine disc(CBM),Wanfang Data and Wiper Databases.Bias of risk of retrieval literature was evaluated according to Cochrane Collaboration standard,and Review Manager 5.3 software was used for statistical analysis.Results:Fourteen trials(836 participants)were included in the meta-analysis.This kind of traditional Chinese method combined with western medicine in the treatment of IMN exerted statistical differences in reducing 24-hour urinary protein[WMD=-0.97,95%CI(-1.30,-0.65),Z=5.86(P<0.00001)]and elevating serum albumin[WMD=3.83,95%CI(2.10,5.57),Z=4.33,P<0.0001],lowering serum cholesterol[WMD=-0.82,95%CI(-1.08,-0.56),Z=6.18,P<0.00001],triglycerides[WMD=-0.39,95%CI(-0.67,-0.11),Z=2.77,P=0.006]and reducing the risk of adverse events[OR=0.29,95%CI[0.16,0.50],Z=4.35,P<0.0001]in the patients with IMN as compared with controls.However,there was no statistically significant difference between the method and controls when combining all trials in serum creatinine[WMD=-5.52,95%CI(-18.06,7.03),Z=0.86,P=0.39],when combining all trials in urea nitrogen[WMD=-0.90,95%CI(-2.22,0.41),Z=1.35,P=0.18].Conclusion:The method of enriching qi,activating blood circulation,clearing away dampness and heat combined with western medicine exerts certain advantages and better safety in treating patients with IMN.However,for the inferiority of the included studies,the conclusion still needs high-quality and large-sample prospective randomized controlled trials to verify.