Effect of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan on RAGE, MCP-1 and Fractalkine in blood and urine of patients with lupus nephritis

Objective To observe the effect of Liuwei Dihuang Wan on the levels of glycated end products receptor (RAGE),monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1) and chemokine Fractalkine in patients with lupus nephritis (LN), and to explore the curative effectiveness of Liuwei Dihuang Wan for LN. Methods Forty-six patients with LN were enrolled in our hospital from September 2014 to September 2016. Among them, 25 males and 21 females were randomly divided into two groups:observation group (n=23) and control group (n=23). The control group was intravenously injected with methylprednisolone (0.5 g/day) for 3 days, then prednisone (0.6 mg·kg^-1· day^-1) was administered orally, and 8 weeks later, gradually reduced to 10 mg/day for maintenance treatment. On the basis of routine western medicine treatment, the observation group was given adjuvant treatment of concentrated Liuwei Dihuang Wan, 8 pills/time, 3 times/day for 8 courses (16 days for a course). The levels of RAGE, MCP-1 and chemokine Fractalkine, and the clinical efficacy were observed in two groups before and after treatment. Results The total effective rate in the observation group (78.3%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (70.0%, P<0.05). The RAGE, MCP-1 and Fractalkine levels after treatment were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group. Conclusions The results showed that Liu Wei Di Huang Wan combined with conventional western medicine can reduce the expression of RAGE, MCP-1 and Fractalkine, exerting its clinical efficacy in the treatment of LN.