title: A case of nephrotic syndrome due to lupus nephritis which was controlled with low-density lipoprotein apheresis.
abstract: Our report discusses a 29 year old female patient with nephrotic syndrome due to lupus nephritis, biopsy-proven World Health Organization classification Types IVb and V that was controlled with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis. She was initially treated with steroid therapy, including methylprednisolone pulse therapy, and the serological activity of her systemic lupus erythematosus was suppressed. However, her nephrotic state, accompanied by severe hyperlipidemia, persisted despite the steroid therapy. Since we could not obtain her consent to administer immunosuppressants such as cyclophosphamide, we tried to treat her using LDL apheresis (LDL-A). We found that her urine protein excretion, hyperlipidemia, hypoalbuminemia, and renal function improved following the initiation of LDL-A. This suggests that LDL-A may be an effective therapy for nephrotic syndrome due to lupus nephritis through short-term amelioration of hyperlipidemia.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinsu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamijo
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: Tetsuji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kakegawa
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kamijo
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kono
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arakura
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Kendo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kiyosawa
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hora
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001781:Blood Component Removal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000150:complications*; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL