Dan Bai Xiao Formula combined with glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide for pediatric lupus nephritis: A pilot prospective study

Table 3 Comparison of clinical indexes between the two groups

Characteristic	Follow up (wk)	Control group (n = 38)	TCM group (n = 40)	P value
Urine protein (g/24 h)	4	1.11 ± 1.54	0.73 ± 1.48	0.008
	12	0.67 ± 0.91	0.34 ± 0.82	0.0159
	24	0.30 ± 0.29	0.09 ± 0.14	< 0.0001
Urine RBC count/HPF	4	17.63 ± 15.48	9.02 ± 8.78	0.001
	12	10.55 ± 9.73	4.35 ± 8.54	0.0007
	24	10.47 ± 8.43	2.82 ± 5.11	< 0.0001
Serum albumin (g/L)	4	34.60 ± 6.57	36.36 ± 4.91	0.324
	8	37.27 ± 6.64	39.35 ± 3.82	0.428
	12	39.65 ± 6.73	41.16 ± 3.99	0.701
	16	40.26 ± 6.45	41.17 ± 5.02	0.879
	20	41.50 ± 5.16	41.08 ± 7.00	0.821
	24	40.30 ± 6.28	41.15 ± 5.14	0.808
Serum C3 (g/L)	4	0.61 ± 0.14	0.53 ± 0.19	0.112
	8	0.73 ± 0.16	0.69 ± 0.25	0.205
	12	0.80 ± 0.19	0.73 ± 0.0.21	0.143
	16	0.82 ± 0.15	0.77 ± 0.20	0.452
	20	0.82 ± 0.15	0.85 ± 0.14	0.874
	24	0.88 ± 0.17	0.86 ± 0.22	0.990
Serum C4 (g/L)	4	0.10 ± 0.04	0.08 ± 0.05	0.800
	8	0.12 ± 0.05	0.11 ± 0.05	0.730
	12	0.14 ± 0.07	0.10 ± 0.05	0.122
	16	0.15 ± 0.06	0.13 ± 0.05	0.235
	20	0.16 ± 0.06	0.14 ± 0.06	0.874
	24	0.18 ± 0.07	0.18 ± 0.23	0.624
SCR (μmol/L)	4	44.75 ± 19.10	42.65 ± 12.86	0.768
	8	44.18 ± 19.10	44.02 ± 13.08	0.794
	12	59.08 ± 76.32	45.17 ± 14.43	0.244
	16	46.53 ± 11.70	48.81 ± 14.68	0.922
	20	49.46 ± 12.47	49.38 ± 14.09	0.939
	24	50.11 ± 9.58	45.40 ± 10.32	0.060
BUN (IU/mL)	4	6.93 ± 2.60	6.08 ± 2.01	0.135
	8	6.24 ± 3.13	5.46 ± 2.04	0.492
	12	5.20 ± 1.86	5.39 ± 1.61	0.654
	16	5.04 ± 1.38	5.04 ± 1.60	0.975
	20	4.93 ± 1.42	4.67 ± 1.43	0.469
	24	4.88 ± 1.24	4.34 ± 1.38	0.051
Dosage of GCs	0	55.05 ± 7.44	52.70 ± 10.94	0.683
	4	52.94 ± 6.38	46.79 ± 12.72	0.098
	8	47.67 ± 6.44	40.78 ± 12.11	0.011
	12	43.58 ± 6.32	35.14 ± 12.77	< 0.0001
	16	39.14 ± 5.38	30.62 ± 9.87	0.0001
	20	34.64 ± 5.04	25.74 ± 8.84	0.060
	24	31.44 ± 4.85	17.61 ± 7.45	< 0.0001
ds-DNA positive, n (%)	24	10 (26.3)	9 (22.5)	0.694
SLEDAI	4	11.00 ± 5.21	9.02 ± 4.02	0.073
	12	7.16 ± 3.52	6.58 ± 3.64	0.625
	24	5.67 ± 4.27	5.12 ± 3.48	0.990

Results are given as the mean ± SD. Between-group P value were calculated using analysis of covariance, with adjustment for the baseline values. Unpaired t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used as appropriate. RBC: Red blood cell; SLEDAI: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index; BUN: Blood urea nitrogen; GCs: Glucocorticoids; TCM: Traditional Chinese medicine.