Comparative Evaluation of Tacrolimus and Cyclosporine in Patients with Steroid-resistant Nephrotic Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

 To date, several randomized trials have compared calcineurin inhibitors, especially tacrolimus, with cyclosporine in patients with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome, proposing conflicting results. Use of immunosuppressive therapy for the treatment of resistant nephrotic syndrome remains a matter of debate, and the evidence on its efficacy and safety is inconclusive.The present study aimed to compare the benefits and limitations of tacrolimus and cyclosporine in the treatment of steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome.

 This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted via searching for the relevant trials performed until January 2018 in electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. In total, 285 potentially relevant articles were identified, and four articles were selected for the review. A random effects model was used to analyze data, and the heterogeneity of the articles was assessed using Chi-square-based Cochran’s Q and I2 statistics, and heterogeneity was considered statistically significant with I2>50%. The outcomes were presented as relative risk with 95% confidence interval, and P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. In addition, meta-analysis was used for further data analysis. 

 Four eligible randomized controlled trials were evaluated in this systematic review. In terms of partial and complete remission, no significant differences were observed between tacrolimus and cyclosporine. However, lack of response to therapy was significantly lower with tacrolimus (RR=0.289; P=0.02) compared to cyclosporine. No significant differences were observed between the drugs in terms of the infection rate, hypertension, ALT/AST elevation, and gastrointestinal symptoms, while nephrotoxicity (RR=0.395; P=0.004) and hypertrichosis (RR=0.018; P<0.001) were significantly lower with tacrolimus.

In conclusion, Tacrolimus is superior to Cyclosporine in treating in patients with steroid resistance nephrotic syndrome in terms of no response to therapy, nephrotoxicity and hypertrichosis.