Objective: To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of puerarin injection in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).
Methods: Randomized controlled trials investigating the efficacy of puerarin injection on DPN were searched for in China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chinese Scientific Journals Database, Wanfang Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, PubMed, and Cochrane Library from establishment to April 30. Two reviewers independently retrieved and extracted the information. The included studies were assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias and analyzed by Review Manager 5.2 software.
Results: Twenty-two studies involving 1664 participants were included. The quality of the studies was found to be relatively low. Meta-analysis showed that puerarin injection combined with western medication was more effective than conventional therapy for DPN in terms of total effective rate, nerve conduction velocity (NCV), and hemorheology index. Six adverse drug reactions (ADRs) from puerarin injection were reported in two studies. Reactions included facial flushing, palpitations, and pain at infusion locations. However, no serious ADRs were reported.
Conclusion: Puerarin injection was effective for the treatment of DPN. Puerarin can improve the total effective rate, correct NCV that was decreased by diabetes, and improve the hemorheology index. Puerarin was also relatively safe clinically. However, since the articles included in the study were not high-quality, more studies should be conducted to strengthen their findings.