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Efficacy of levocetirizine in reducing albuminuria and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with diabetic kidney disease: A randomized controlled trial

Rizk MA, El-Haggar SM, Ibrahim OM, Ghazi HA

Journal of diabetes and its complications, 2025

2 citations

Abstract

UNLABELLED: Globally, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus is rising. One of the main causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and a risk factor for higher morbidity and death in diabetic patients is diabetic nephropathy (DN), sometimes referred to as diabetic kidney disease (DKD). DN, a microvascular consequence of diabetes, affects 20-40 % of diabetics globally. The study's objective was to assess if levocetirizine may have albuminuria lowering effect and anti-inflammatory effect in patients treated with angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors therapy by reducing albuminuria and improving DKD indicators.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A controlled, parallel, trial was carried out on sixty DKD patients. Sixty patients were divided into two groups at random. Group 1 (control group) received an empagliflozin 10 mg once day in addition to 80 mg valsartan. Group 2 (levocetirizine group) received the same medications as the control group plus a 5 mg of levocetirizine once daily in the evening, titrated dose based on each patient's creatinine clearance (CrCl) for three months. Serum creatinine, serum urea, serum cystatin-C, HbA₁c, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR) were measured at baseline and compared to these data three months after drug administration.

RESULTS: Levocetirizine decreased significantly UACR at the end of the three-months (p =…

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Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.

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