Renal toxicity with mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCT) was done to determine the relative risk (RR) of acute kidney injury (AKI) with the use of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors. Citations from PubMed/Medline, clinical trials.gov, package inserts and abstracts from major conferences were reviewed to include RCTs comparing arms with or without mTOR inhibitors. The RR of all grade AKI in patients taking mTOR inhibitors compared to patients not on mTOR inhibitors was 1.55 (95% CI: 1.11 to 2.16, P=0.010). There was no significant difference in the risk of high-grade AKI for the two groups (RR=1.29, P=0.118, 95% CI: 0.94 to 1.77). There was no significant difference in the incidence rates for either all grade or high-grade AKI between the two groups. There was no publication bias and the trials were of high quality per Jadad scoring.