Clinical Efficacy of Persian Medicine Diet Combined with Western Medicine-Based Diet on Proteinuria in Pediatric Nephrotic Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Introduction. Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a common chronic kidney disorder during childhood. The most important characteristic of this disease is proteinuria. The Persian medicine (PM) has important dietary recommendations for strengthening the kidney function and treatment of this disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a diet including PM recommendations and general principles of Western medicine. Materials and Methods. Twenty children with nephrotic syndrome were randomly divided into intervention and control groups and monitored for one month. The control group received a diet based on the general principles of Western medicine. In the intervention group, in addition to the Western medicine diet, dietary recommendations of PM were also prescribed including the pomegranate (Cydonia oblonga mill.), quince (Cydonia oblonga mill.), and whole grains (wheat and barley). A 24-hour dietary questionnaire was applied and anthropometric and biochemical indices including spot urine protein (proteinuria), albumin (Alb), urea, creatinine (Cr), total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG) were measured before and after the study. Results. The amount of protein intake reduced significantly in the diet of both groups but the differences between the two groups were not significant. Proteinuria reduced significantly in both the Western and PM groups; however, proteinuria was significantly lower in the Persian medicine group compared to the control group. TC and Cr levels reduced significantly in the intervention group, although the changes were not significant compared to the control group. Conclusion. The results of this study showed that adding dietary recommendations of the Persian medicine to the general rules of the Western medicine diet reduced proteinuria and improved the combat against nephrotic syndrome.