Objective: Several studies have reported that porcine antilymphocyte globulin (pALG) has a significant effect on aplastic anemia (AA), but their conclusions are inconsistent. To objectively evaluate its efficacy and safety, a meta-analysis was conducted.
Materials and methods: We systematically searched the relevant literature on pALG vs. rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG) as the first-line treatment in AA patients until August 31, 2022, in electronic databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, etc. Two researchers independently extracted data and evaluated the quality of the study. Stata 14.0 was used for statistical analysis.
Results: 50 studies were included in the analysis. The overall responses at 3, 6, and 12 months between the pALG group and rATG group were equivalent. We analyzed early mortality, total mortality, relapse rates, and 5-year survival after the administration of pALG or rATG, and there was no significant difference between the pALG and rATG groups. In our study, the incidence of infection in the pALG group was better than that in the rATG group, OR = 0.63, 95% CI (0.44 - 0.88), p = 0.008, which showed a statistically significant difference.
Conclusion: The efficacy of pALG in AA patients is equivalent to that of rATG. rATG was associated with a significantly higher incidence rate of infection than pALG.