Effect of combination therapy of losartan and prostaglandin E1 on early-phase diabetic kidney disease

Abstract

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of losartan combined with prostaglandin E1 therapy for diabetic nephropathy at early phase. Methods 117 patients with diabetic nephropathy at stage 3 were randomly treated with losartan (ARB), prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) or losartan plus prostaglandin E1 (ARB+ PGE1). Patients were followed up for 6 months, the urinary albumin excretion rate(UAER), serum creatinine(CR), creatinine clearance rate (CCr), serum potassium(K) were observed at 14th day and 6th month after the initiation of therapy. Results 117 patients (ARB, n=38; PGE1, n=39; ARB+ PGE1, n=40) finished the follow-up.There were significant differences in UAER on the 14th day and 6th month[(88.2±42.8)μg/min, (61.0±22.0)μg/min, (50.3±15.2)μg/min; (58.0±22.8)μg/min, (50.6±18.1)μg/min, (31.7±7.3)μg/min], respectively (t=8.517, 7.056, 7.989, t=7.442, 8.947, 7.992, all P 0.05), but significant differences on the 6th month examination (t=9.283, 9.978, 9.876, t=-2.398, -2.838, -3.088, all P 0.05). Conclusion The results suggest that both short-term and long-term treatment with ARB and PGE1 is effective and safe for early-phase diabetic nephropathy. Key words: Diabetic nephropathy; Early phase; Losartan; Prostaglandin E1