Efficacy and Safety of Wuling Powder in the Treatment of Patients with Diabetic Nephropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Wuling powder is a classical formula of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which is extensively applied to treat diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, there are no related reports on systematically evaluating the efficacy of Wuling powder in the treatment of DN. Targeted at this, this study was developed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study systematically searched related articles from nine databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, China Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biomedical CD-ROM (Sino Med), Wanfang database, Vipers database (VIP), and the China Clinical Trials Registry website. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving Wuling Power to treat DN were included, which were published from the established data of the above databases to March 2022. In addition, the language of the studies was not restricted. Studies were meta-analyzed using the RevMan 5.4 software given in the Cochrane Collaboration Network. The treatment efficacy was measured using the weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: 24 studies were included for the final analysis. 24 h urine volume (WMD = 357.95; 95% CI [322.83, 393.06], p < 0.00001), 24 h urine protein quantification(24 h UPQ) (WMD = −1.30; 95% CI [−1.82, −0.78], p < 0.00001), serum creatinine (Scr) (WMD = −10.17; 95% CI [−11.13, −9.21], p < 0.00001), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (WMD = −1.62; 95% CI [−2.30, −0.93], p < 0.00001), urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER) (WMD = −24.73; 95% CI [−35.46, −13.99], p < 0.00001), fasting blood glucose (FBG) (WMD = −0.63.95% CI [−0.97, −0.30], p = 0.002), glycated hemoglobin (WMD = −0.11; 95% CI [−0.30, 0.08], p=0.26), total cholesterol (TC) (WMD = −0.63; 95% CI [−1.23, −0.04], p=0.04), triglycerides (TG) (WMD = −0.46. 95% CI [−0.70, −0.23], p=0.0001), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (WMD = −0.32; 95% CI [0.03, 0.62], p=0.03), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (WMD = −0.57; 95% CI [−0.77, −0.37], p < 0.00001), and total effective rate (TER) (response ratio (RR) = 1.40; 95% CI [1.32, 1.48]; p < 0.00001) were concluded. The Wuling powder in the treatment of DN was statistically significant in all the above outcome indicators, and the efficacy of the treatment group was better than that of the control group. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provided evidence for the clinical application of Wuling powder to treat the DN, but it had to be further validated in higher-quality clinical studies.