Efficacy of Kabab Chini (Piper cubeba Linn) in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a major public health problem with a global prevalence of approximately ۱۳% with the majority stage ۳ and is a global threat to health in general and for developing countries in particular, because therapy is expensive and life-long. In India ۹۰% patients cannot afford the cost of treatment for CKD, over ۱ million people worldwide alive on dialysis or with a functioning graft. It is the need of the time to find alternate treatment to control CKD. Hence this study aims to evaluate clinically the efficacy of Kabab Chini (Piper cubeba) in CKD stage ۱-۳ and also to compare the effectiveness of the marketed drug NEERI KFT® scientifically. Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of Kabab Chini (Piper cubeba) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage ۱-۳ patients. Methods: In this open-labeled randomized controlled clinical trial, ۳۰ participants, randomly allocated to two groups, received ۴ g of either sufoof (powder) of Kabab Chini in a divided dose thrice a day (Test group, n=۱۵) or ۱۰ mL of Syrup NEERI-KFT three times a day (Control group, n=۱۵) for ۴۲ days. The objective parameters were serum creatinine, blood urea (BU), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and urine routine and microscopy, whereas subjective parameters were anorexia, easy fatigability, and edema. Objective and subjective parameters were assessed at weekly follow-ups, and safety parameters were assessed at baseline and after ۴۲ days. Results: Intragroup data suggest significant improvements in anorexia, easy fatigability, and eGFR in both groups (P=۰.۰۰۱), whereas the intragroup serum creatinine value was significantly reduced in the test (P=۰.۰۲۸) and control (P=۰.۲۵۶) groups. No significant improvement in edema and albumin was observed in both groups (P>۰.۰۵). The test drug was found to be tolerable with no adverse effects. Conclusion: The results of the present study revealed that Kabab Chini is effective in reducing serum creatinine, eGFR, anorexia, and easy fatigability moderately superior to Syrup NEERI-KFT® with respect to efficacy without any adverse effect and accepted alternate hypothesis.