Effects of Tangshenan Formula on Micro-Urinary Albumin, Microinflammation and Insulin Resistance in Patients with Early Diabetic Nephropathy

OBJECTIVE  To observe the effects of Tangshenan formula on micro-urinary albumin (micro-UALB), microinflammatory status and insulin resistance (IR) in patients with early diabetic nephropathy (DN).METHODS  A total of 86 patients with early stage DN, identified as deficiency of both qi and yin combined with blood stasis syndrome, were divided into 43 patients in the control group and 43 patients in the observation group according to the random number table. The control group was treated conventionally, while the observation group was treated with Tangshenan formula on the basis of the treatment of the control group. After 12 weeks of treatment, we compared the changes in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome score, urine protein indexes urine micro-UALB, urine albumin/urinary albumin creatinine (UACR), serum microinflammatory factors interleukin 6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), insulin resistance indexes fasting insulin (FIN), homeostasis model assessment IR index (HOMA-IR), fasting blood glucose (FBG), as well as renal function indexes serum creatinine (SCr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN).RESULTS  After treatment, the TCM syndrome score, urine protein index, inflammation index and IR index in the observation group reduced significantly, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05, P < 0.01); the results in the treatment group were better than those in the control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).CONCLUSION  Tangshenan formula can effectively relieve the symptoms, reduce proteinuria, inhibit inflammatory factors and enhance insulin resistance in early DN patients.