Abstract
Background
To compare the efficacy of glucocorticoids in primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (pFSGS) patients with moderate proteinuria. Registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn/, study No. ChiCTR-OPN-17012789.
Methods
pFSGS patients with urine protein between 1.0 and 3.5 g/24 h were recruited from 2006 to 2016. No decline in urine protein > 50% was observed after 2 months of run-in angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin-receptor blockers (ACEI/ARB) treatment. Patients were assigned to study group (glucocorticoids with ACEI/ARB) or control group (ACEI/ARB without glucocorticoids). Variables including 24-h urinary protein, serum albumin and serum creatinine during the trial were recorded. Remission was defined as proteinuria < 0.3 g/24 h or declined > 50%, and our composite end point as > 30% decrease of eGFR or eGFR < 30 ml/min.
Results
A total of 102 patients were enrolled (study group N = 52, control group N = 50), and the median follow-up time was 36 (12–117) months without significant difference between groups. During the 12-month follow-up, the remission rate was significantly higher in study group [73.1 vs 50.0% (P = 0.01)], and the initial median response time was 3 months in the study group while 6 in the control group. The end point was reached by 22.2% cases in study group, and 42.0% in control. The medium survival times were study group 72 months and control 57 (P = 0.03). Minor adverse reactions were observed in 10 patients (study group N = 8, control group N = 2).
Conclusions
Additional glucocorticoids therapy is more efficacious compared to ACEI/ARB alone in the treatment of patients with pFSGS and moderate proteinuria.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0904100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81570598), and Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (15ZR1426300).
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All the authors have declared no competing interest.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Ethics Committee of Ruijin Hospital [(2017) Clinical Ethics Approval No. (154)] and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Huang, J., Lin, L., Xie, J. et al. Glucocorticoids in the treatment of patients with primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and moderate proteinuria. Clin Exp Nephrol 22, 1315–1323 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10157-018-1585-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10157-018-1585-z