ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the efficacy and adverse reactions of half-dose glucocorticosteroid and cytoxan,combined with leflunomide for the treatment of lupus nephritis (LN) of MRL/lpr mice,and provide experimental evidences for LN therapy.Methods Twenty-eight 10-week-old MRL/lpr mice were randomly divided into four groups:Group A,blank control group; Group B,classical control group; Group C,full-dose control group; Group D,half-dose treatment group,with 7 mice in each group.The therapeutic efficacy and side reactions in the four groups were observed and compared before and 12 weeks after treatment.Statistical analysis was conducted with one-way ANOVA,q test and Pearson's correlation analysis.Results The serum anti-double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibody titers (0.43±0.16,0.32±0.09,0.44± 0.18,1.95±0.19) U/ml,serum creatinine level (1.63±0.63,0.40±0.23,0.82±0.21,10.86±2.17) mg,24-hour urine protein excretion level (71±8,60±5,68±3,121±10) μmol/L and renal pathological changes in group B,C,D were significantly improved than those of the group A (P＜0.05) after 12 weeks treatment.There was no significant difference in the efficacy between group B,C,and D (P＞0.05).The incidence of adverse reactions in group D was significantly lower than that in other groups (P＜0.05).Conclusion Multi-target therapy,such as half-dose prednisone and CTX,combined with leflunomide can effectively control lupus disease activity with less side effects.This regimen is cheap,safe and effective for the treatment of LN in MRUL/lpr mice.This study has provided animal evidences for this multi-target therapy for LN.