Calcineurin inhibitors in treatment of membranous nephropathy – kidney function long term outcomes
Autori:
Bojana Šimunov, Iva Canjuga Sever, Bojana Maksimović, Željka Jureković, Lada Zibar, Branislav Čingel, Ivan Margeta, Snježana Šulc, Ksenija Vučur Šimić, Mladen Knotek, Mario Laganović
Sažetak
Summary
Aim: Calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) are the mainstay treatment of membranous nephropathy (MN). Nephrotoxicity of CNI remains a concern and limits their use. We aimed to evaluate long-term outcomes of patients with MN treated with CNI alone or in combination with rituximab (RTX) compared to other regimens. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients with MN treated with CNI for at least two months and who had at least one year of follow-up. We compared them to patients treated with cyclophosphamide (CYC) or RTX alone without CNI. Results: There were in total 27 patients, 78,8% male, median age 54 years (IQR 43,5 – 59.5). At presentation 75.8% had nephrotic syndrome. Median follow-up time was 75 months (IQR 20.5 – 121.5). There were 19 patients in the CNI group, median age 48 years (IQR 39 – 55.5), 71.4% male, and eight patients who didn’t receive CNIs, median age 60 years (IQR 57 – 66), 75% male. There was no significant difference in aPLA2R positivity, 76.5% vs 50% respectively, p=0.359. No significant difference in change of eGFR at one year was detected, p=0.186. There was no significant difference in proteinuria at one year, p=0.275. At one year 89.5%
patients were in full remission in the CNI group, vs 87.5% in the other group (p=0.663). Mean eGFR at last followup was 74.1±22.8mL/min/1.73m2 in the CNI group, and 72.3±18.1mL/min/1.73m2 in the group who hadn’t received CNIs (p=0.840). None of the patients in both groups had ESKD at last follow-up. Conclusion: CNIs present a safe and effective treatment of MN, both alone and as a part of combination regimens. Larger studies on longterm outcomes are needed to further evaluate our findings.