Chinese patent medicine Bailing capsule for treating lupus nephritis A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Treatment of lupus nephritis (LN) remains challenging. LN remains the primary source of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Chinese patent medicine Bailing capsule is commonly used for the treatment of LN. However, there is no consensus on the difference in clinical efficacy compared with routine treatment. Therefore, we plan to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to review the clinical efficacy and safety of Bailing capsule for LN. Methods: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Database, Wanfang database, and VIP information database will be searched from their inception until January 2019. The meta-analysis will be conducted with Review Manager 5.3 software to systematically review the clinical efficacy and safety of Bailing capsule for LN. The primary outcome will include clinical effective rate, and the secondary outcomes will include Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index, serum creatinine, 24-hour urine protein quantity, complement 3, and adverse effects. Results: This analysis will provide useful information about clinical efficacy and safety of Bailing capsule for LN. Conclusions: Our study will generate strong evidence of Bailing capsule for patients with LN and provide suggestions for clinical practice.