Sun F, Jiang D, Cai J, et al. - In this systematic review and meta-analysis involving 1,294 candidates, the findings suggest that α-lipoic acid in combination with valsartan could significantly reduce urinary albumin and oxidative stress level, increase antioxidant capacity, and alleviate renal function damage in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN), providing a reference for the selection of DN treatment drugs.

• Eleven studies were included in this research.

• The pooled analysis showed that α-lipoic acid combined with valsartan could remarkably decrease urinary albumin excretion rate and the level of urinary albumin, β2-MG when compared with valsartan or lipoic acid monotherapy in DN patients.

• However, there was no statistically significant difference in hypersensitive C-reactive protein levels between the three therapies.

• Furthermore, combining α-lipoic acid with valsartan significantly increased SOD and total antioxidant capacity levels while decreasing MDA levels.