Clinical covariates influencing clinical outcomes in primary membranous nephropathy

• Published in: BMC nephrology Vol. 24; no. 1; p. 235
• Main Authors: Westermann, Lukas, Rottmann, Felix A, Hug, Martin J, Staudacher, Dawid L, Wobser, Rika, Arnold, Frederic, Welte, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 10.08.2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Albumin; Analysis; Antibodies; Biopsy; Care and treatment; Chronic kidney disease; Chronic kidney failure; Clinical outcomes; Creatinine; Cyclophosphamide; Development and progression; Disease; Dosage and administration; Epidermal growth factor receptors; Glomerular filtration rate; Glomerulonephritis; Immunosuppression; Immunotherapy; Membranous nephropathy; Nephrology; Nephropathy; Nephrotic syndrome; Patient outcomes; Patients; Physiology, Pathological; PLA2-R; Prevention; Primary membranous nephropathy; Proteins; Proteinuria; Risk factors; Risk groups; Steroids; Testing; THSD7A; Trends; Urine; Variables; Viral antibodies; Germany; Immunosuppression; PLA2-R; Primary membranous nephropathy; Rituximab; Chronic kidney disease; Nephrotic syndrome; THSD7A
• DOI: 10.1186/s12882-023-03288-x
• ISSN: 1471-2369

Primary membranous nephropathy (PMN) frequently causes nephrotic syndrome and declining kidney function. Disease progression is likely modulated by patient-specific and therapy-associated factors awaiting characterization. These cofactors may facilitate identification of risk groups and could result in more individualized therapy recommendations. In this single-center retrospective observational study, we analyze the effect of patient-specific and therapy-associated covariates on proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in 74 patients diagnosed with antibody positive PMN and nephrotic-range proteinuria (urine-protein-creatinine-ratio [UPCR] ≥ 3.5 g/g), treated at the University of Freiburg Medical Center between January 2000 - November 2022. The primary endpoint was defined as time to proteinuria / serum-albumin response (UPCR ≤ 0.5 g/g or serum-albumin ≥ 3.5 g/dl), the secondary endpoint as time to permanent eGFR decline (≥ 40% relative to baseline). The primary endpoint was reached after 167 days. The secondary endpoint was reached after 2413 days. Multivariate time-to-event analyses showed significantly faster proteinuria / serum-albumin response for higher serum-albumin levels (HR 2.7 [95% CI: 1.5 - 4.8]) and cyclophosphamide treatment (HR 3.6 [95% CI: 1.3 - 10.3]). eGFR decline was significantly faster in subjects with old age at baseline (HR 1.04 [95% CI: 1 - 1.1]). High serum-albumin levels, and treatment with cyclophosphamide are associated with faster proteinuria reduction and/or serum-albumin normalization. Old age constitutes a risk factor for eGFR decline in subjects with PMN.