Efficacy and safety of human urinary kallidinogenase for acute ischemic stroke: a meta-analysis

Human urinary kallidinogenase (HUK) is a glycoprotein extracted from human urine that is used to treat stroke by triggering positive regulation of the kallikrein-kinin system. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of HUK treatment for acute ischemic stroke.

We searched the online databases PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) for papers published between January 2015 and December 2019. The quality of each trial was assessed using the Cochrane Reviewers' Handbook. Randomized controlled trials of HUK in patients with acute ischemic stroke were included.

Sixteen trials with 1326 participants were included. The HUK injection groups had more neurological improvement than the control groups in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores (mean difference, -1.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], -2.12 to -1.71) and clinical efficacy (1.30; 95% CI, 1.21 to 1.41). Subgroup analysis indicated that age may influence heterogeneity. Eleven trials reported adverse effects and there were no significant differences between the control and HUK groups (risk difference, 0.01; 95% CI, -0.02 to 0.04).

HUK ameliorates neurological symptoms in stroke patients with few adverse effects. Further high-quality, large-scale randomized trials are needed to confirm these results.