Effect of Chinese medicine prescription on nephrotic syndrome: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a common chronic recurrent kidney disease. Many trials have shown that Chinese medicine prescription (CMP) can effectively treat NS. The program aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CMP for NS. METHODS: This systematic evaluation will entail an electronic and manual search of all CMP for NS from inception to February, 2020, regardless of the publication status or language. Databases include PubMed, Embase, Springer, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, the World Health Organization International Clinical Trial Registration Platform, the Chinese Medicine Database, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the China Science Journal Database, and the Wanfang Database. Other sources of information, including bibliographies and meeting minutes for identified publications, will also be searched. A manual search for grey literature, including unpublished conference articles will be performed. Additionally, any clinical randomized controlled trials related to CMP for NS, regardless of the publication status and language limitations, will be included in the study. Study selection, data extraction, and research quality assessments will be conducted independently by 2 researchers. The main result was the total clinical efficacy rate or other validated scales after at least 2 weeks of treatment. Secondary outcomes included 24-hour urine protein quantification, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin 6, recurrence rates and adverse events during follow-up. Implement the Cochrane RevMan V5.3 bias assessment tool to assess bias risk, data integration risk, meta-analysis risk, and subgroup analysis risk (if conditions are met). Mean difference, standard mean deviation and binary data will be used to represent continuous results. RESULTS: This study will provide a comprehensive review and evaluation of CMP for the treatment of NS. CONCLUSION: This study will provide new evidence for evaluating the effectiveness and side effects of CMP on NS. Since the data is not personalized, formal ethical approval is not required. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY202040181.