Tacrolimus combined with prednisone for treatment of refractory idiopathic membranous nephropathy with persistent high serum anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody titers / 实用医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus combined with prednisone for treat-ment of refractory idiopathic membranous nephropathy(IMN)patients whose serum anti-phospholipase A2receptor (PLA2R)antibody titers were persistent high. Methods An open prospective study of 12 refractory IMN patients was performed in Guangzhou First People's Hospital between June of 2012 and June 2016.The 12 patients failed to re-spond after a standard course of 6 months in a conventional immunosuppressive therapy(cyclophosphamide,myco-phenolate mofetil or cyclosporine A)combined with prednisone and the patients'serum anti-PLA2R antibody titers were persistent high. They were divided into two groupsThe tacrolimus group received tacrolimus combined with prednisone for 12 months and the control group received the same or another conventional immunosuppressive therapy for 6 months.Results At the end of the sixth month after enrollment,proteinuria and serum albumin levels in the ta-crolimus group were significantly improved as compared with those in the control group(P<0.01),and eGFR was higher in the tacrolimus group than in the control group(P<0.05).Severe proteinuria and hypoalbuminemia still re-mained in the control group,and eGFR in the control group declined significantly prior to enrollment(P<0.01).Af-ter 6-month treatment,none of the control group became negative for serum anti-PLA2R antibody,and achieved clini-cal remission. Five patients(83.3%)in the tacrolimus group became negative for serum anti-PLA2R antibody and achieved clinical remission(complete remission in two patients and partial remission in three).After 12-month treat-ment,complete remission was achieved in four patients(66.7%)in the tacrolimus group.Conclusions Persistent high serum anti-PLA2R antibody titers may be a cause of no response to a conventional immunosuppressive therapy in refractory IMN patients.For these patients,tacrolimus combined with prednisone may be an effective alternative treat-ment for disappearance of anti-PLA2R antibody and remission.