Efficiency of Rituximab in treating children with refractory nephrotic syndrome / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To assess the efficacy of Rituximab (RTX) in treating children with refractory nephro-tic syndrome.Methods:A retrospective study was carried out.Twenty-two children diagnosed with refractory nephrotic syndrome in the Department of Nephrology of Wuhan Children′s Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from November 2018 to November 2020 were included in the study.All patients were treated with RTX.Patients with CD 19+ B lymphocytes≥1% total lymphocytes in peripheral blood were supplemented with one dose of RTX (375 mg/m 2), and each patient received 3-4 doses of RTX on average.The patients were treated with Mycophenolate mofetil after early discontinuation of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the proteinuria relapse-free rate and the incidence of frequently recurrent nephrotic syndrome or steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome in children after RTX treatment.The relapse times before and after using RTX were analyzed by the Wilcoxon signed rank test.Besides, the body mass indexes (BMI) and height of children before and after RTX treatment were compared by the rank sum test. Results:Of 22 patients studied, 20 patients accomplished the therapeutic protocol.One-year and two-year proteinuria relapse-free survival rates were 85% and 40%, respectively.The recurrence rate was reduced under the discontinuation of CNI.Compared with those before RTX treatment, the BMI and height of all children were significantly improved at 1 year and 2 years after RTX treatment (all P<0.05). However, no significant improvement was observed between 1 or 2 years after RTX treatment (all P>0.05). Conclusions:The use of RTX can effectively reduce the recurrence rate of refractory nephrotic syndrome even when hormones and other immunosuppressants are discontinued.At the same time, RTX can significantly improve the BMI and height of children.RTX is safe and effective for treatment of refractory nephrotic syndrome.