Therapeutic Effect and Safety of Tripterygium Glycosides Combined With Western Medicine on Type 2 Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Meta-Analysis

Purpose Tripterygium glycosides (TG) are widely used for the treatment of kidney disease in China. However, the application of TG in clinical practice is limited, as the therapeutic window is narrow, and the therapeutic dose is close to the toxic dose. In addition, the therapeutic effect of TG combined with Western medicine has not been fully elucidated. This study sought to explore standardized treatment, efficacy, and safety of TG combined with Western medicine for patients with type 2 diabetic kidney disease (T2DKD). Methods The PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature, Chinese Scientific Journal, and Wan Fang databases were searched for randomized controlled trials of TG combined with Western medicine on T2DKD from their inception until May 4, 2021. A random effects model was used to explore heterogeneity of studies. Findings A total of 33 studies with 2034 patients were included in the current meta-analysis. The findings showed that TG combined with Western medicine effectively reduced urinary albumin excretion rates (standardized mean difference, –2.55; 95% CI, –4.70 to –0.40; P = 0.02), 24-hour urinary protein level (mean difference, –0.79; 95% CI, –1.22 to –0.36; P = 0.0003), and serum creatinine level (mean difference, –8.23; 95% CI, –14.48 to –1.99; P = 0.01) and increased albumin level (mean difference, 4.70; 95% CI, 3.27 to 6.13; P < 0.00001) in patients with T2DKD. No serious adverse reactions occurred, and the incidence of adverse events in the TG combined with Western medicine treatment group was slightly higher than in the control group (8.14% vs 2.65%). The results were stable, and a significant publication bias was not detected (P > 0.05). Implications Based on our results, TG combined with Western medicine may be an effective and safe therapy for T2DKD; the best treatment duration may be 3 to 6 months. Nevertheless, larger, longer multicenter studies should be conducted for clinical application of the regimen to patients in more countries and regions. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021259466.