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Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine >

2026 , Vol. 46 >Issue 1: 219 - 225

DOI: https://doi.org/10.19852/j.cnki.jtcm.2026.01.021

Original Articles

Title-effectiveness and safety of Danshen injection (丹参注射液) for acute kidney injury in primary nephrotic syndrome

  • Yanling SHI ,
  • Jianfen ZHU ,
  • Bo CHEN ,
  • Xiaohan YOU ,
  • Xinxin CHEN ,
  • Tianxin CHEN
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  • 1 Department of Nephrology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325015, China
    2 Department of Internal Medicine Nursing and Endoscopy Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325015, China
SHI Yanling and ZHU Jianfen are co-first authors and contributed equally to this work

Received date: 2024-11-16

  Accepted date: 2025-04-14

  Online published: 2026-01-28

Supported by

Key Project of Science and Technology Program Co-constructed by the Science and Technology Department of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China and Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Zhejiang Province: A Study on the Efficacy and Safety of Danshen (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae) in Treating Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with Primary Nephrotic Syndrome(GZY-ZJ-KJ-23085);Basic Research Project of Wenzhou Science and Technology Bureau: the Mechanism of Hypoxia Induicible Factor-1 alpha Down-regulating Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 in Proximal Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells Leading to Brush Border Shedding in Early Acute Kidney Injury Induced by Sepsis(Y20240071)

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical effectiveness and safety of Danshen injection (丹参注射液) following immunosuppressive therapy in primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS) with acute kidney injury (AKI) patients.

METHODS: PNS with AKI patients selected from nephrotic syndrome inpatients between 2012 and 2022 were divided into two groups according to the treatment regimen: the DS group who were treated with the Danshen injection and the SC group who received supportive care. Propensity score matching was used to balance the confounding factors between the two groups. The outcomes were complete and partial renal function recovery for effectiveness analysis and severe bleeding events for safety analysis. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests were used to compare cumulative recovery rates. Outcome risks were assessed using Cox proportional hazard regression models.

RESULTS: The study enrolled 441 patients with PNS and AKI from a population of 3873 inpatients with nephrotic syndrome. Among them, 95 received Danshen injection, and 346 received supportive care. After propensity score matching, 95 patients in the DS group and 285 patients in the SC group were analyzed. No significant difference was observed in the complete recovery rate for the DS group vs SC group (72.9% vs 65.1%, P = 0.130) at 6 months. Compared with the SC group, the DS group was associated with a significantly higher partial recovery rate (71.0% vs 37.5%, P = 0.011) at 6 months and all recovery rates (93.4% vs 79.1%, P = 0.006) at 6 months.

CONCLUSION: In this real-world retrospective study of PNS with AKI patients, Danshen injection following immunosuppressive therapy and prophylactic anticoagulation with low molecular heparin significantly increased 6-month partial renal function recovery and had a safety profile. Further randomized clinical trials are warranted to confirm the benefit of Danshen (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae) in these patients.

Key words： acute kidney injury; nephrotic syndrome; Danshen (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae); Danshen injection

Cite this article

Yanling SHI , Jianfen ZHU , Bo CHEN , Xiaohan YOU , Xinxin CHEN , Tianxin CHEN . Title-effectiveness and safety of Danshen injection (丹参注射液) for acute kidney injury in primary nephrotic syndrome[J]. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2026 , 46(1) : 219 -225 . DOI: 10.19852/j.cnki.jtcm.2026.01.021

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