ReviewFrontiers in endocrinology2024
Analysis of clinical evidence on traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy: a comprehensive review with evidence mapping.
Review in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Immune regulation and clinical response of Chinese herbal injections combined with TACE in hepatocellular carcinoma: a cumulative logit regression and Bayesian network meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Modified Shen-Yan-Fang-Shuai formula attenuates diabetic kidney disease progression via regulation of HIF-1α-mediated mitochondrial energy metabolism.Chinese medicine · 2026Article
- Global Research Trends in Traditional Chinese Medicine for Diabetic Kidney Disease: A 20-Year Bibliometric Analysis.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Review
- Traditional Chinese medicine in diabetes management: a comprehensive review of mechanisms and therapeutic potential.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Clinical study of intelligent tongue diagnosis and oral microbiome for classifying TCM syndromes in MASLD.Chinese medicine · 2025Article
- Yiqi Huoxue recipe ameliorates diabetic nephropathy by mediating VAPB-PTPIP51 complex to activate autophagy and regulate MAM contact.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- The Therapeutic Effect and Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Its Complications.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Review
- Yiqi Yangyin Tongluo Recipe Alleviates Diabetic Kidney Disease Through AGE-RAGE Signalling Axis.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: This study aims to map evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews/Meta-analyses concerning the treatment of Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), understand the distribution of evidence in this field, and summarize the efficacy and existing problems of TCM in treating DN. The intention is to provide evidence-based data for TCM in preventing and treating DN and to offer a reference for defining future research directions. Methods: Comprehensive searches of major databases were performed, spanning from January 2016 to May 2023, to include clinical RCTs and systematic reviews/Meta-analyses of TCM in treating DN. The analysis encompasses the publishing trend of clinical studies, the staging of research subjects, TCM syndrome differentiation, study scale, intervention plans, and outcome indicators. Methodological quality of systematic reviews was evaluated using the AMSTAR (Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews) checklist, and evidence distribution characteristics were analyzed using a combination of text and charts. Results: A total of 1926 RCTs and 110 systematic reviews/Meta-analyses were included. The majority of studies focused on stage III DN, with Qi-Yin deficiency being the predominant syndrome type, and sample sizes most commonly ranging from 60 to 100. The TCM intervention durations were primarily between 12-24 weeks. Therapeutic measures mainly consisted of Chinese herbal decoctions and patented Chinese medicines, with a substantial focus on clinical efficacy rate, TCM symptomatology, and renal function indicators, while attention to quality of life, dosage of Western medicine, and disease progression was inadequate. Systematic reviews mostly scored between 5 and 8 on the AMSTAR scale, and evidence from 94 studies indicated potential positive effects. Conclusion: DN represents a significant health challenge, particularly for the elderly, with TCM showing promise in symptom alleviation and renal protection. Yet, the field is marred by research inconsistencies and methodological shortcomings. Future investigations should prioritize the development of standardized outcome sets tailored to DN, carefully select evaluation indicators that reflect TCM's unique intervention strategies, and aim to improve the robustness of clinical evidence. Emphasizing TCM's foundational theories while incorporating advanced scientific technologies will be essential for innovating research methodologies and uncovering the mechanisms underlying TCM's efficacy in DN management.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.