Rituximab for the treatment of refractory anti-glomerular basement membrane disease.
Ren Fail
; 44(1): 1123-1129, 2022 Dec.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35820833
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease is a rare but severe autoantibody-mediated immune disorder. The typical clinical presentation includes rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and often concurrent pulmonary hemorrhage. The present study is aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of rituximab either used alone or with other immunosuppressants.METHODS:
Eight patients diagnosed with anti-GBM disease and treated with rituximab from 2014 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed.RESULTS:
Eight patients included 5 males and 3 females with a median age of 58.5 years. They all presented severe kidney injuries and 1 patient had lung hemorrhage. At diagnosis, the median of serum creatinine was 246 µmol/L (ranging from 91 to 850 µmol/L), with 3 patients requiring dialysis. All of them received corticosteroids and plasmapheresis. Rituximab was given as either standard four weekly doses or one pulse ranging from 100 to 600 mg. After a median follow-up of 34.5 months, kidney function was partially recovered or stabilized in 5/8 (62.5%) patients, free of dialysis. Anti-GBM antibodies remained undetected in all patients during follow-up. No severe adverse effect associated with rituximab was observed.CONCLUSION:
Rituximab may be an alternative therapy in the treatment of patient with severe or refractory anti-GBM disease.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Anti-Glomerular Basement Membrane Disease
/
Lung Diseases
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Ren Fail
Journal subject:
NEFROLOGIA
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China