A retrospective study on the efficacy of corticosteroid-alone therapy in membranous nephropathy patients.
OBJECTIVE
Membranous nephropathy (MN) is the most common cause of adult-onset nephrotic syndrome and its management is still controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of corticosteroid-alone therapy for controlling proteinuria in MN.


METHODS
Twenty-three patients, which had moderate proteinuria (admission 24-hour urinary protein excretion 1.0 to 3.5 g/day) with primary MN were studied retrospectively.


RESULTS
Thirteen patients received corticosteroid-alone therapy combined with rest and dietary therapy (steroid group), while the other 10 patients were treated with rest and diet alone (non-steroid group). These two groups did not differ with respect to their laboratory features at the time of admission. After discharge, 5 of 13 patients of the steroid group dropped out . Therefore, only 8 patients could be followed up. As the result, 5 of 8 patients (62.5%) achieved complete remission (CR) and 3 of 8 patients (37.5%) had incomplete remission (ICR), so none of the patients failed to improve. On the other hand, 3 of 10 patients of the non-steroid group dropped out. Then, 7 patients were followed up. None of the 7 patients showed improvement during follow-up and 5 of these 7 patients were started on corticosteroids. Finally, as this result, 4 of 5 patients (80%) could achieve CR by 2 years after hospital discharge. Moreover, in the remaining 2 patients from the non-steroid group, no remission could be achieved even 2 years after discharge.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that long-term corticosteroid-alone therapy is beneficial for controlling proteinuria in patients with MN.
Kimura
Moritsugu
M
Division of Nephrology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara.
Toyoda
Masao
M
Kobayashi
Keiko
K
Abe
Makiko
M
Kobayashi
Takako
T
Kato
Mayuko
M
Miyauchi
Masaaki
M
Yamamoto
Naoyuki
N
Maruyama
Mayumi
M
Umezono
Tomoya
T
Nishina
Makoto
M
Yagame
Mitsunori
M
Endo
Masayuki
M
Suzuki
Daisuke
D
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004035:Diet Therapy; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D015433:Glomerulonephritis, Membranous / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D012074:Remission Induction; D012146:Rest; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones