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Objective To investigate the predictive factors affecting the efficacy of cyclophosphamide (CTX) combined with glucocorticoids in the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN),and to evaluate the efficacy of calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) adjustment due to poor treatment.Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted.Two hundreds and twenty-eight patients with IMN diagnosed by renal biopsy in the People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from January 1,2007 to December 1,2016 were enrolled.All subjects were treated with CTX in combination with glucocorticoids.The patients were divided into two groups:remission group and no remission group.Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the baseline clinical-pathological influencing factors for the remission of IMN in the enrolled patients.Results The number of total remission (including complete and partial remission) of the first CTX combined with glucocorticoid treatment in 228 patients with IMN was 188(82.5％).Among them,141 patients (61.8％) had complete remission (CR),the median time for CR was 8(6,12) months,and the median time for partial remission (PR) was 3(1,4) months.The median follow-up time for this study was 25(13,43) months.Compared with the remission group,the serum albumin level was lower in the non-remission group,the 24-hour urine protein content,the blood complement C3 and C4 levels were higher,and the pathological stage was milder (all P ＜ 0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that the levels of baseline serum albumin,complement C4,and pathological stage were independent predictors of clinical remission in IMN patients.Twenty-four non-remission patients were treated with CNI.The overall response rate was 66.7％(16/24) at 6 months and 77.3％(17/22) at 12 months.Conclusions The levels of baseline albumin,blood complement C4,and pathological stage were independent predictors of clinical remission in IMN patients treated with CTX plus glucocorticoids.The non-remission patients with CTX combined with glucocorticoid therapy can still achieve a higher response rate after adjusting for CNI.
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Purpose To observe the change of renal parenchyma elasticity in patients with chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN), and to explore the value of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) in the assessment of renal histological damages in CGN. Materials and Methods 123 patients with CGN and 27 healthy volunteers were enrolled, CGN patients were divided into three groups according to renal histologic scores: mildly, moderately, and severely impaired. Shear wave velocities (SWV) of the renal parenchyma were measured and compared in different groups, the correlation between the SWV measurements and renal fibrosis Katafuchi scores, serum creatinine (Scr) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (e-GFR) was accessed, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analyses were also performed to assess the value of ARFI for the diagnosis of pathology impairment degree in CGN. Results There were statistically significant differences in SWV measurements between each CGN patient group and the control group (F=16.592, P<0.01); the mean SWV in patients with severe kidney impairment was significant lower than that of mildly impaired, moderately impaired, and the control groups (P<0.001). SWV measurements correlated significantly with renal fibrosis Katafuchi scores (r=-0.481, P<0.01), Scr (r=-0.441, P<0.01), and e-GFR (r=0.546, P<0.01); ROC analyses indicated that the sensitivity was 63.4%, 71.4%, 93.8%, specificity was 77.8%, 71.3%, 79.9%, and the area under the curve was 0.730, 0.738 and 0.870, when using the optimal cut-off value of 2.65 m/s for the diagnosis of mildly impaired kidneys, 2.50 m/s for moderately impaired kidneys, and 2.34 m/s for severely impaired kidneys, respectively. Conclusion ARFI is expected to become an effective tool for non-invasive evaluating of renal histological fibrosis in CGN patients.
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Objective To evaluate the short-term therapeutic effects of DNA immunoadsorbent (IA) combined with glucocorticoid and immune depressant on patients with severe systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE). Methods 32 patients with severe SLE were selected to undergo DNA IA treatment combined with glucocorticoid plus cyclophosphamide therapy, and each patient received IA therapy 3 times, once 2.5 hours, with an interval of 24-48 hours to take another two times of IA. The changes in SLE disease activity index(SLEDAI)score, health status evaluation indexes〔 physiologic functional( PF) and emotional health( MH) scores〕,renal function indexes〔 blood urea nitrogen(BUN)and serum creatinine(SCr)〕 were observed; and anti-double stranded DNA antibody( ds-DNA), immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, IgM), complements(C3 and C4)and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were examined before and after IA treatment for 2 weeks. Results Two weeks after the combination therapy, the SLEDAI score, BUN, SCr, dsDNA, IgA, IgG, IgM, hs-CRP were significantly lower than those before treatment 〔SLEDAI score : 14.38±3.85 vs. 15.69±1.40, BUN (mmol/L): 11.22±4.78 vs. 16.31±7.90, SCr (μmol/L): 127.02±38.17 vs. 167.25±45.63, dsDNA( U/L): 1.36±0.12 vs. 1.43±0.18, IgA( g/L): 2.41±0.73 vs. 2.59±0.86, IgG( g/L): 16.82±4.83 vs. 21.01±4.84, IgM( g/L): 1.64±0.45 vs. 1.75±0.58, hs-CRP( mg/L): 14.41±2.20 vs. 14.94±2.60, P<0.05 or P<0.01〕; PF score, MH score, complement C3 were increased〔 PF score : 71.19±17.53 vs. 56.66±22.41, MH score : 74.01±15.72 vs. 61.50±17.98, C3( g/L): 0.56±0.09 vs. 0.52±0.10, all P<0.05〕; clinical symptoms were improved significantly, and no significant adverse reactions were found. Conclusion IA combined with medical treatment has shown that it has significant therapeutic effect for treatment of patients with severe SLE, and it may decrease the levels of dsDNA, IgA, IgG, IgM,hs-CRP, and increase the level of complement C3.