Cochrane: Diabetic
kidney disease (DKD) is a disorder which results in excessive protein,
mainly albumin, loss in urine. DKD is a major cause of kidney failure
and cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes. Although vitamin B
is commonly used in DKD, its effects are unclear.
This review included
nine studies with a total of 1354 participants. One study reported
improvement in urinary albumin levels following use of thiamine. None of
the other studies reported improvement in kidney function or reduction
in urinary albumin excretion after two to 36 months monotherapy with
vitamin B therapy. Vitamin B therapy was reported to well-tolerated with
mild side effects in studies with treatment duration of more than six
months. Studies of less than six months duration did not explicitly
report adverse events; they reported that the drugs were well-tolerated
without any serious drug related adverse events.
All these findings
require confirmation in larger studies before they can be accepted as
definite.