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Abstract Background and Aim Renal involvement of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is known as lupus nephritis (LN). The prognosis of lupus patients with LN is worse than those without kidney involvement. Renal survival can be improved in patients with lupus nephritis with appropriate and timely treatment. The aim of our study is to compare the clinical and pathological findings of patients diagnosed with LN in our clinic by renal biopsy, the results of the treatment applied in our center, and renal survival with the literature. Method The local ethical committee approved the study design (date: 04/10/2021; reference number: 121/07) and all procedures were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Forty-four patients diagnosed with lupus nephritis between January 2012 and January 2021 in the Nephrology Department of Ankara Dıskapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Education and Research Hospital were enrolled in this study. Patient data were analyzed retrospectively. Exclusion criteria were as follows: 1) Patients under 18 years of age, 2) patients with follow-up of period less than 6 months and who did not attend regular follow-ups, 3) patients with connective tissue diseases other than SLE. Results The mean age of the study population was 36.0 ± 10.8, and the majority were female. All patients had proteinuria at diagnosis. Class IV LN was the most common (36.4%). Majority of the patients were in the proliferative LN group (65.9%). A significant difference was found between patients diagnosed with proliferative LN (n = 29) and non-proliferative LN (n = 15) in terms of high serum creatinine levels, low serum complement, presence of anti-dsDNA antibodies and active urinary sediment with proliferative LN (p = 0.021, p = 0.024, p = 0.008, p = 0.008). Treatment responses at 6 and 12 months are shown in Table 1. A significant difference was found between the patients who were in complete remission (n = 16) at 12 months and those who were not in remission (n = 27) in terms of low systolic blood pressure and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at the time of diagnosis (p = 0.008, p = 0.016). It was observed that most of the patients who were not in complete remission at 12 months were in the proliferative LN group (p = 0.024). There was no significant difference in the partial and complete remission rates at 6 and 12 months between the group receiving steroids + cyclophosphamide (n = 14) and the group receiving steroid + mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) (n = 15) in the initial treatment of proliferative LN (p0.05). In the group taking MMF treatment (n = 15) had a shorter time to reach complete remission than the group taking cyclophosphamide treatment, and it was statistically significant (Table 2) (p = 0.048). It was found that end-stage renal disease (ESRD) developed in 9% of the patients and 2 patients died during followed up period. Recurrence was detected in 8 patients, and it was observed that more than half of the patients with relapse could not achieve complete remission at 12 months. Patients with relapse had higher systolic blood pressure and serum total cholesterol level at the time of diagnosis compared to patients without recurrence (p = 0.013, p = 0.045). In addition, patients with relapse were found to have a higher level of proteinuria at the time of diagnosis (p = 0.036). Conclusion Lupus nephritis remains an important source of morbidity and mortality for SLE patients. SLE patients should be regularly examined for renal involvement. About 10-20% of patients diagnosed with lupus nephritis develop ESRD. Early diagnosis of LN and initiating appropriate treatment when diagnosed without delay is important for renal and patient survival. Although there were some different results, most of the statistically significant data in our study were found to be compatible with the existing literature. However, these data need to be confirmed by studies with high patient participation.
Duran et al. (Wed,) studied this question.