SynthesisEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2026
The efficacy and safety of pentoxifylline in the treatment of chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Iron, ESA, and HIF-Inhibitors: Are There Other Opportunities to Improve Anemia of CKD?Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis research sought to systematically evaluate the effects of pentoxifylline on renal function, anemia parameters, inflammatory status, and safety among individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD).
methodsPubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched up to April 9, 2026 for RCTs of pentoxifylline in CKD. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment. Meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 15; continuous outcomes were pooled as MD or SMD with 95% CIs. Heterogeneity was evaluated using the I² statistic.
resultsIn total, 19 studies involving 1166 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that, compared to the control group, pentoxifylline significantly increased the estimated glomerular filtration rate (7 studies, N = 547, MD = 4.59 mL/min/1.73 m², 95% CI: 2.57-6.61) and reduced the urinary albumin excretion rate (6 studies, N = 494, SMD = -0.57, 95% CI: -1.01--0.12), C-reactive protein (10 studies, N = 594, SMD = -0.70, 95% CI: -1.08--0.31), and tumor necrosis factor-α levels (5 studies, N = 246, SMD = -0.68, 95% CI: -1.19--0.18). Regarding anemia and nutritional indicators, pentoxifylline increased hemoglobin levels (9 studies, N = 424, SMD = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.08-0.94) and potentially improved serum albumin levels (7 studies, N = 355, MD = 0.19 g/dl ,95% CI: 0.00-0.38). Nevertheless, the effects of pentoxifylline on serum ferritin, transferrin saturation, and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio were not significant. Regarding safety, the main adverse events included gastrointestinal symptoms, and overall tolerability appeared promising.
conclusionIn patients with CKD, pentoxifylline safely improves renal function and reduces inflammation and anemia, with its efficacy potentially linked to the dosage and duration of treatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.