Meta-analysis of combined therapy for adult hepatitis B virus-associated glomerulonephritis

AIM: To investigate the efficacy and safety of combined antiviral and immunosuppressant therapy in adult hepatitis B virus-associated glomerulonephritis (HBVGN) patients. METHODS: A computerized literature search was carried out in the PubMed database, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Chinese BioMedical Literature on disc, Chinese Medical Current Contents, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and VIP (Chinese Technological Journal of Database) to collect articles between June 1980 and December 2010 on therapy with immunosuppressants, e.g., glucorticosteroids, mycophenolate mofetil and leflunomide, combined with antivirals, e.g., interferon, lamivudine, entecavir and adefovir dipivoxil, in adult HBV-GN patients. The primary outcomes were remission of proteinuria, clearanceof HBV e-antigen, and elevation of serum albumin. The secondary outcomes were blood levels of alanine aminotransferase, serum creatinine, and HBV-DNA titer. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.1. Fixed or random effect models were employed to combine the results after a heterogeneity test. The effects of the combined therapy were analyzed for different doses of glucorticosteroid and different types of HBV-GN. RESULTS: Twelve clinical trials with 317 patients were included. A significantly higher incidence of HBV-GN was found in male patients (relative risk = 2.40, 95% CI: 1.98-2.93). Combined therapy reduced the proteinuria significantly with a mean difference of 4.19 (95% CI: 3.86-4.53) and increased the serum albumin concentration significantly with a mean difference of -11.95 (95% CI: -12.97-10.93) without significant alterations of liver function (mean difference: 4.62, 95% CI: -2.55-11.79) and renal function (mean difference: 10.29, 95% CI: 0.14-20.45). No signif icant activation of HBV-DNA replication occurred (mean difference: 0.12, 95% CI: -0.37-0.62). There was no significant difference between the high dose glucorticosteroid group and the low dose glucorticosteroid group in terms of proteinuria remission (P = 0.76) and between different pathological types of HBV-GN [membranous glomerulonephritis (MN) vs mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis, P = 0.68; MN vs membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, P = 0.27]. CONCLUSION: Combined antiviral and immunosuppressant therapy can improve the proteinuria in HBVGN patients without altering HBV replication or damaging liver and renal functions.

Efficacy and Safety of Niaoduqing Particles for Delaying Moderate-to-severe Renal Dysfunction： A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Multicenter Clinical Study

Background： Chronic kidney disease （CKD） with moderate-to-severe renal dysfunction usually exhibits an irreversible course, and available treatments for delaying the progression to end-stage renal disease are limited. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of the traditional Chinese medicine, Niaoduqing particles, for delaying renal dysfunction in patients with stage 3b-4 CKD.Methods： The present study was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, naulticentcr clinical trial. Frorn May 2013 to December 2013,300 CKD patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate （eGFR） between 20 and 45 ml ＂rain ~＂ 1.73 m 2, aged 18-70 years were recruited from 22 hospitals in 11 Chinese provinces. Patients were randomized in a 1：1 ratio to either a test group, which was administered Niaoduqing particles 5 g thrice daily and 10 g before bedtime for 24 weeks, or a control group, which was administered a placebo using the same methods. The primary endpoints were changes in baseline serum creatinine （Scr） and eGFR after completion of treatment. The primary endpoints were analyzed using Student＇s t-test or Wilcoxon＇s rank-sum test. The present study reported results based on an intention-to-treat （ITT） analysis. Results： A total of 292 participants underwent the ITT analysis. At 24 weeks, the median （interquartile range） change in Scr was 1.1 （-13.0-24.1） and 11.7 （-2.6-42.9） p, mol/L for the test and control groups, respectively （Z = 2.642, P = 0.008）, and the median change in eGFR was -0.2 （-4.3-2.7） and -2.2 （-5.7-0.8） ml.min-1·1.73 m-2, respectively （Z = -2.408, P = 0.016）. There were no significant differences in adverse events between the groups. Conclusions： Niaoduqing particles safely and effectively delayed CKD progression in patients with stage 3b-4 CKD. This traditional Chinese medicine may be a promising alternative medication for patients with moderate-to-severe renal dysfunction.