Table 1.
Characteristic of included studies
| Study (first author, year) |
Sample size (M/F) |
Age | Diabetes type | Inclusion criteria of kidney function | Intervention and control protocol | Duration (months) |
Reported outcomes |
| Fan, 201025 | 61 (28/33) |
59.6 | 2 | Albuminuria 30–300 mg/g or 30–300 mg/24 hours | T: Qi Kui granule 1 bag two times daily C: placebo |
12 | UAE; FBG |
| Jia, 201230 | 60 (29/31) |
58.3 | 2 | Proteinuria<3.5 g/24 hours; Normal Scr level |
T: Qi Wei granule 4.5 g two times daily C: placebo |
3 | UAE; 24h UP; |
| Ma, 2011a34 | 414 (186/228) |
56.6 | NS | Proteinuria≤4.5 g/24 hours; Scr≤190 μmol/L |
T: Arctiin granule 1 bag two times daily C: placebo |
2 | UAE; 24h UP; |
| Ma, 2011b35 | 186 (78/108) |
55.3 | NS | Proteinuria≤3.5 g/24 hours; Scr<176 μmol/L |
T1: Arctiin granule 2 bag two times daily+placebo 2 bag qd T2: Arctiin granule 1 bag three times a day +placebo 1 bag three times a day C: placebo 2 bag three times a day |
2 | UAE; 24h UP; |
| Wei, 201237 | 56 (24/32) |
50.6 | NS | Albuminuria 30–300 mg/24 hours; Scr≤105 μmol/L |
T: Xue Zhi Kang capsule 0.6 g three times a day C: placebo |
3 | UAE; TC; TG; LDLC; HDLC |
| Wei, 201638 | 41 (32/9) |
61.8 | 2 | Albuminuria>30 mg/g and Proteinuria≤3.5 g/24 hours GFR≥30 mL/min |
T: Gan Di capsule 3# three times a day C: placebo |
6 | Scr; FBG; A1C; TC; TG; LDLC; HDLC |
| Xie, 201139 | 67 (30/37) |
62.3 | 2 | Albuminuria 30–299 µg/mg | T: Liu Wei Di Huang pill 3 g three times a day +Ginkgo biloba tablet 19.2 mg three times a day C: LWDHW Placebo+GBT placebo |
24 | UAE; FBG; A1C; TC; TG; LDLC; HDLC; SBP; DBP |
| Yang, 201440 | 142 (80/62) |
48.5 | NS | Albuminuria 30–300 mg/24 hours; Normal Scr level |
T: Qi Ming granule 4.5 g three times a day C: placebo |
3 | UAE; FBG; TC; TG; LDLC; HDLC |
| Zhou, 201445 | 48 (27/21) |
58.5 | 2 | Proteinuria≤3.5 g/24 hours; Normal Scr level |
T: Qi Wei granule 6 g three times a day C: placebo |
3 | UAE; 24h UP; Scr; GFR; FBG; A1C; SBP; DBP |
| Li, 201524 | 180 (100/80) |
59.0 | 2 | Albuminuria>20 µg/min or Proteinuria 0.5–2 g/24 hours GFR 60–130 mL/min |
T: Tang Shen granule 8 g two times daily+ACEi/ARB C: placebo+ACEi/ARB |
6 | UAE; 24h UP; Scr; GFR; A1C; TC; TG; LDLC; HDLC; SBP; DBP; QoL |
| Liu, 201533 | 60 (NS) |
20–70 | 2 | Albuminuria 20–200 µg/min or Proteinuria≤3.5 g/24 hours GFR>60 mL/min |
T: Qi Huang capsule 1.9 g three times daily+losartan C: placebo+losartan |
6 | 24h UP; Scr |
| Ni, 201336 | 224 (112/112) |
54.7 | NS | Albuminuria 20–200 µg/min or Proteinuria≤3.5 g/24 hours GFR 60–130 mL/min |
T: Qi Yao Xiao Ke capsule 2.4 g three times daily+benazepril C: placebo+benazepril |
3 | UAE; 24h UP; Scr; GFR; FBG; A1C; TC; TG; LDLC; HDLC |
| Yang, 201741 | 25 (23/2) |
59.3 | 2 | Albuminuria 20–200 µg/min or 30–300 mg/24 hours | T: Qi Zhu granule 1 bag two times daily+irbesartan C: placebo+irbesartan |
6 | UAE; Scr; GFR FBG; A1C; TC; TG; LDLC; HDLC |
| Zhang, 200642–44 | 221 (119/102) |
61.9 | NS | Proteinuria<10 g/24 hours; Scr 133–354 μmol/L or Ccr 30–70 mL/min |
T 1: Modified Qi Wei granule 1 bag two times daily+losartan T 2: Modified Qi Wei granule 1 bag two times daily+losartan simulant C: placebo+losartan |
3 | 24h UP; Scr; GFR; QoL |
| Gao, 200626 | 90 (NS) |
35–70 | 2 | Albuminuria 20–200 µg/min or 30–300 mg/24 hours | T: Tang Shen Ning granule 5 g three times daily+benazepril simulant C: placebo+benazepril |
2 | UAE; Scr; |
| Gao, 201727 | 250 (116/134) |
52.3 | 2 | Albuminuria 30–300 mg/24 hours | T: Tang Shen Ning granule 8 g three times daily+losartan simulant C: placebo+losartan |
3 | UAE; Scr; FBG; A1C |
| Han, 201428 | 104 (NS) |
30–78 | 2 | Proteinuria≥0.5 g/24 hours Scr<265 μmol/L |
T1: Bao Shen pill 1 bag two times daily+Tripterygium glycosides 20 mg two times daily T2: Bao Shen pill 1 bag two times daily C: BS placebo+valsartan |
1 | 24h UP; Scr |
| Jia, 201529 | 56 (31/25) |
59.6 | NS | Proteinuria<10 g/24 hours; Scr<265 μmol/L |
T: San Huang Yi Shen granule 1 bag two times daily+irbesartan simulant C: placebo+irbesartan |
3 | GFR |
| Li, 201231 46 | 315 (194/121) |
58.1 | NS | Proteinuria<10 g/24 hours; Scr<265 μmol/L or GFR>40 mL/min; |
T: Modified Qi Wei granule 4.5 g two times daily C: placebo+irbesartan |
24 | Mortality; Composite endpoints; QoL |
| Lin, 200032 | 119 (46/73) |
55.3 | NS | Proteinuria<0.5 g/24 hours; Normal Scr level |
T: Tang Wei Kang capsule 2 g three times daily C: Captopril (same appearance as herbal capsule) |
3 | UAE; FBG; A1C; TC; TG; HDLC |
24h UP, 24 hours proteinuria; A1C, glycated haemoglobin; C, control group; Ccr, creatinine clearance rate; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; FBG, fasting blood glucose; GFR, glomerular filtration rate; HLDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDLC, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; M/F, male versus female; NS, not specified in the original reports; qd, once daily; QoL, quality of life; SBP, systolic blood pressure; Scr, serum creatinine concentration; T, tested group; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; UAE, urinary albuminuria excretion.