Long-term kidney survival analyses in IgA nephropathy patients under steroids therapy: a case control study

Corticosteroids are preferred to treat patients with active IgA nephropathy (IgAN), and beneficial effects from the short-term use of corticosteroids have been confirmed. However, a large number of patients will progress to end-stage renal disease after a long time follow-up. This study aimed to evaluate kidney disease progression and risk factors on kidney survival in IgAN patients receiving steroids treatment.

Two hundred biopsy-proven IgAN patients who received corticosteroid therapy were enrolled and followed for a median period of 63.33 months. Risk factors on kidney survival were retrospectively investigated by the Cox proportional hazards model.

Of the two hundred patients, twenty patients showed progression of renal impairment at the end of follow-up. The median and interquartile range values for initial serum creatinine were 89.2 and 68.08-121.35 µmol/L, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that relapse, non-remission, time-averaged eGFR (TA-eGFR), and time-averaged serum albumin (TA-ALB) were independently associated with the kidney progression. Those with TA-ALB levels <35 g/L and TA-eGFR levels <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) were less likely to recover from kidney progression. Patients were more likely to show kidney function deterioration, when they had non-remission or relapse after corticosteroids treatment.

This study demonstrated that relapse, non-remission, TA-eGFR, and TA-ALB could serve as independent predictors of long term prognosis of IgAN patients receiving corticosteroid therapy.