Table 3.

Meta-analysis of the safety of tacrolimus in induction therapy of patients with lupus nephritis

Therapeutic regimen	Indicators	Number of studies	Q test, P-value	Model selected	OR (95% CI)	P-value
TAC + GC vs CYC + GC	Gastrointestinal syndrome	4	0.63	Fixed	0.30 (0.12, 0.78)	0.01
	Leucopenia	5	0.71	Fixed	0.25 (0.08, 0.74)	0.01
	Hypertension	3	0.93	Fixed	1.57 (0.41, 5.91)	0.51
	Hyperglycemia	6	0.64	Fixed	1.66 (0.78, 3.54)	0.19
	Infection	5	0.23	Fixed	0.77 (0.42, 1.43)	0.41
	Upper respiratory infection	2	0.45	Fixed	0.90 (0.90, 4.18)	0.89
	Pneumonia	3	0.53	Fixed	0.42 (0.09, 1.93)	0.26
	Herpes zoster or varicella	4	0.54	Fixed	1.21 (0.45, 3.21)	0.71
	Urinary tract infection	3	0.69	Fixed	0.72 (0.25, 2.05)	0.53
	Alopecia	3	0.33	Fixed	0.59 (0.19, 1.83)	0.36
	Irregular menstruation	5	0.90	Fixed	0.16 (0.05, 0.45)	0.0006
	Blood creatinine increase	5	0.75	Fixed	1.52 (0.50, 4.60)	0.46
	Liver function disorder	4	0.98	Fixed	0.52 (0.23, 1.20)	0.13
TAC + GC vs MMF + GC	Leucopenia	2	0.51	Fixed	0.52 (0.06, 4.12)	0.53
	Hyperglycemia	3	0.88	Fixed	2.25 (0.69, 7.33)	0.18
	Infection	2	0.05	Random	0.95 (0.06, 16.03)	0.97
	Serious infection	2	0.48	Fixed	0.43 (0.15, 1.18)	0.10
	Herpes zoster or varicella	2	0.74	Fixed	0.13 (0.03, 0.53)	0.004
	Blood creatinine increase	2	0.33	Fixed	13.54 (1.75, 104.81)	0.01
TAC + MMF + GC vs CYC + GC	Gastrointestinal syndrome	2	0.78	Fixed	0.16 (0.08, 0.35)	<0.00001
	Leucopenia	2	0.20	Fixed	0.16 (0.04, 0.59)	0.006
	Hypertension	2	0.48	Fixed	3.15 (1.06, 9.29)	0.04
	Hyperglycemia	2	0.61	Fixed	1.46 (0.43, 4.93)	0.54
	Upper respiratory infection	2	0.18	Fixed	0.91 (0.51, 1.65)	0.76
	Pneumonia	2	0.60	Fixed	2.06 (0.76, 5.61)	0.16
	Herpes zoster or varicella	2	0.64	Fixed	1.92 (0.75, 4.91)	0.18
	Urinary tract infection	2	0.75	Fixed	0.66 (0.18, 2.38)	0.52
	Alopecia	2	0.38	Fixed	0.52 (0.20, 1.33)	0.17
	Irregular menstruation	2	0.85	Fixed	0.25 (0.07, 0.93)	0.04

Abbreviations: TAC, tacrolimus; GC, glucocorticoids; MMF, mycophenolate mofetil; CYC, cyclophosphamide.