Effect of Qingshen Granules on inflammation/hepcidin axis and iron metabolism in patients with renal anemia: a single-center, randomized controlled trial

To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Qingshen Granules on renal anemia in patients with damp-heat syndrome and explore the mechanisms in light of inflammation/hepcidin axis and iron metabolism. Sixty patients with renal anemia and dampness-heat syndrome were randomized into control group ( =30) and treatment group ( =30). All the patients were given routine treatment, and the patients in the treatment group received additional treatment with Qingshen Granules (3 times a day). After 12 weeks of treatments, the patients were examined for changes in the integral value of TCM syndrome, serum creatinine (Scr), glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), red blood cell (RBC) count, interleukin-6 (IL-6), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), ferritin, growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), serum iron (SI), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin saturation (TAST), soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and ferritin levels. After the treatment, the scores of TCM syndrome wer