Treatment of IgA nephropathy

Abstract

The therapy of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is cause for debate among nephrologists. Since the early 1980s, many therapeutic attempts have been proposed, but most of them did not prove efficacy. The recent KDIGO Clinical Practice Guideline for Glomerulonephritis recommend long-term ACE-I or ARB treatment when proteinuria is more than 1 g/day, with up-titration of the drug. For patients with GFR >50 ml/min and proteinuria persistently higher than 1 g/day, they suggest a 6-month course of corticosteroid therapy. Based on our experience and the results of the literature, we propose a progressive treatment, which takes into account the time the IgAN is recognized and the clinical conditions present at that time. The treatment can be summarize as follows: (1) in patients with macro-microscopic haematuria, in case with proteinuria less than 0.3 g/day, only annual controls; (2) in patients with proteinuria between 0.3 and 0.9 g/day, ACE-I and/or ARB, with titration of the drugs; (3) in patients with proteinuria higher than 1 g/day, in case with the presence of arterial hypertension and GFR up to 30 ml/min, 6 months course of corticosteroids, in addition to ACE-I and/or ARB; (4) in patients with GFR less than 30 ml/min, ACE-I/ARB, dialysis and kidney transplantation; corticosteroids should be in case considered for patients with persistently high or increasing proteinuria; (5) the immunosuppressants (cyclophosphamide and azathioprine) should be reserved for patients with progressive renal insufficiency or with vasculitic lesions on renal biopsy.

Keywords: Adverse events; Azathioprine; Chronic kidney disease; Corticosteroids; IgA nephropathy; RAS blockers.