OBJECTIVETo study the effect of Shenbing Mistura (SM) combined with glucocorticoid on recurrent nephrotic syndrome (RNS) in children and levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in blood and urine.

METHODSThe treatment group was treated with SM plus glucocorticoid, the control group with glucocorticoid alone, and a healthy control group was adopted, 30 cases in each group. The clinical effect and recurrence rate were observed, and levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha in blood and urine were determined before treatment and at the 4th, 8th, 12th week after treatment.

RESULTSSignificant difference of IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels in blood and urine was found in either the pre- and post- treatment auto-control of both the treatment group and control group, or in the inter-group comparison of them (P < 0.01); clinical effect also showed remarkable difference between the two groups (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the recurrence rate of the treatment group was lower than that of the control group showed by a 18-month follow-up (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSM combined with glucocorticoid could significantly reduce the recurrence rate and elevate the clinical effect in children with RNS, it could also lower the levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha in patients' blood and urine.

Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glucocorticoids ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; analysis ; blood ; urine ; Male ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Phytotherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Recurrence ; Treatment Outcome ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; analysis ; blood ; urine