Prolonged prednisolone therapy in adult nephrotic syndrome: a preliminary study

Twenty-five adult Nigerian patients suffering from the nephrotic syndrome with normocomplementaemic mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis were studied. Twelve of these were treated with prednisolone at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg body weight/day, with maximum dose of 90 mg/day initially for 2 weeks. Thereafter, a quarter of the daily dose was given on alternate days for a period varying from 6 to 12 months. The 13 others were similarly followed up on a dietary and diuretic regime alone. Oedema disappeared completely in all the steroid group except one, whilst it persisted in five of the controls. Proteinuria persisted in all the controls but remitted in five of the test patients. Renal function deteriorated with rising plasma creatinine in five of the controls, in contrast with one of the test patients. The beneficial effect of prednisolone observed here calls for further long-term studies.