Efficacy and Safety of Chinese Herbal Formula Granules in Treating Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 3: A Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Clinical Trial

Zhao J, Sun W, Chen J, Sun Z, Chen D, Cao C, Yang M, Ma J, Wang L, Xing C, Chen Y, Sheng M, Zhou E, Xu L, Gao K, Liu L, Liu Q, Yi L, He W, Zhu Y · Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · 2020 October 21

DOI 10.1155/2020/4073901

Objective

To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal formula granules in patients with CKD stage 3 through a prospective randomized controlled study.

Conclusions

The study concludes that the treatment with Chinese herbal formula granules for 24 weeks improved kidney function in patients with CKD stage 3.

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Insights

The use of Chinese herbal formula granules appears to improve kidney function in stage 3 chronic kidney disease patients.

In a prospective randomized controlled study involving 343 participants with stage 3 chronic kidney disease from 9 hospitals in Jiangsu Province, individuals were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. Over a 24-week period, participants in the treatment group orally consumed Chinese herbal formula granules twice daily, while the control group received placebo granules. The treatments did not cause any significant difference in the levels of 24-hour proteinuria between both groups. However, patients in the treatment group demonstrated significant improvements in their kidney function compared to the control group. This was evidenced by the significantly lower levels of serum creatinine and significantly higher eGFR levels. Furthermore, the incidence of adverse events between the two groups remained similar, suggesting the treatment posed no added risk to the participants.