Background: Because moderate or severe proteinuria is a representative factor indicative of longterm poor prognosis in IgA nephrology, an anti-proteinuric treatment which can be administered longterm with few side effects is necessary. We report here a comparison of antiproteinuric effects in two patient groups treated with different combination therapies.
Methods: Group A comprised 12 patients with IgA nephropathy, who had 24-h proteinuria of 0.5 gm(2) or more, moderately severe renal histology, and normal renal function, and were treated with a combination of drugs, i.e., prednisolone, an immunosuppressant (mizoribine), an anti-platelet drug (dipyridamole), and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor. Group B consisted of 18 patients who had baseline characteristics similar to those of the patients in group A and were treated with our previous protocol (a combination of prednisolone, cyclophosphamide, and dipyridamole). Twenty-four-hour proteinuria and creatinine clearance were measured every 6 months. The primary endpoint was reduction of 24-h proteinuria by less than 25% compared with the baseline value.
Results: The proportion of patients that exhibited the primary endpoint, as assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method, was found to be significantly higher in group A than in group B (logrank test; P = 0.024). None of the patients in the two groups experienced serious adverse effects.
Conclusions: The results suggested that the use of drugs in combination with cyclophosphamide was beneficial for patients with moderately severe IgA nephropathy. Because moderate or severe proteinuria is a representative factor indicative of longterm poor prognosis in IgA nephropathy, an anti-proteinuric treatment which can be administered longterm with few side effects is necessary. We report here a comparison of antiproteinuric effects in two patient groups treated with different combination therapies.