Pharmacological treatment of primary membranous nephropathy in 2016

Abstract

Therapy in patients with primary membranous nephropathy is debated. The discovery of anti-PLA2R antibodies provides opportunities for new treatment strategies. Areas covered: The PubMed database and Cochrane library were searched for full-text articles published in English before March 2016. The search terms included 'Glomerulonephritis, Membranous' [MESH], 'membranous glomerulonephritis' [tiab] and, 'idiopathic membranous nephropathy' [tiab] and 'membranous nephropathy' [tiab], in combination with 'Therapeutics' [MESH], 'therapeutic*'[tiab], 'immunosuppression' [MESH] and 'immunosuppression' [tiab]. All randomized trials were included, cohort trials were included dependent of study design and sufficient number of patients. Expert commentary: With the current available immunosuppressive therapies less than 10% of patients will progress to end stage renal disease. Various treatment options are available and can be used adapted to the clinical characteristics of the patient. Treatment in patients with membranous nephropathy can be individualized using measurement of anti-PLA2R antibodies.

Keywords: ACTH; Primary membranous nephropathy (MN); anti-PLA2R antibodies (aPLA2R); calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs); cyclophosphamide; mycophenolic acid (MMF); nephrotic syndrome; rituximab.