Effectiveness of Bailing capsules in the treatment of lupus nephritis: A meta‑analysis

Previous studies have explored the treatment of lupus nephritis with Bailing capsules; however, due to limited sample sizes and inconsistent results across these studies, no definitive conclusions have been drawn. Thus, the present study aimed to provide evidence for the effectiveness of Bailing capsules in the treatment of lupus nephritis. To obtain relevant clinical studies (published before 20 July 2019), PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database were searched, and relevant studies concerning the use of Bailing capsules for treating lupus nephritis were selected. The extracted data were general characteristics such as the first author, publication year, study year, follow‑up time, age, sex, course of the disease and a number of outcome indicators. These included systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) score, serum albumin (Alb), 24‑h urinary protein, serum creatinine, anti‑ds‑DNAIgM, complement component 3 (C3), and the number of effective treatments and complications. Meta‑analysis was performed using R‑3.12 software. Publication bias was assessed using Egger's test. A total of 14 studies comprising 1,301 participants were combined for analysis in the present study. The results demonstrated that with the exception of anti‑ds‑DNAIgM and complement C3, other indicators, such as SLEDAI score, Alb, 24‑h urinary protein, serum creatinine, and the number of effective treatments and complications) in the Bailing capsule treatment group were improved compared with those in the control group. The results of the present meta‑analysis suggested that Bailing capsules may be effective in the treatment of lupus nephritis.