Abstract: 【Abstract】Objective To evaluate the effects of diphosphonates on vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Methods PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, CNKI and Wanfang databases up to September, 2020 were searched for the randomized controlled trials (RCT) and observational studies on the treatment of diphosphonates for vascular calcification in CKD patients. Pieces of literature were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and quality. Data extracted from the literature were analyzed using Review Manager software version 5.4. Results A total of 5 RCTs and 1 cohort study including 222 patients were enrolled. No significant differences were found between diphosphonates group and control group in terms of the progress of vascular calcification (P=0.06), aortic artery calcification (P=0.09) and coronary artery calcification (P=0.38) in CKD patients. Etidronate could significantly reduce vascular calcification in CKD patients (P=0.03). The treatment of diphosphonates had no significant changes in serum calcium (P=0.34), phosphate (P=0.63), and parathyroid hormone (PTH) (P=0.70) in CKD patients. Conclusion Diphosphonates have an effect on vascular calcification in CKD patients, and etidronate is the most promising
therapeutic agent.

Key words: Diphosphonate, Vascular calcification, Chronic kidney disease, Meta-analysis