IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a common primary glomerulonephritis worldwide, and the improvement of glucocorticoid on the renal prognosis of IgAN patients with high risk of CKD progression remains unclear.

To explore the effect of glucocorticoid therapy on the therapeutic response and renal prognosis of IgAN patients with high risk of CKD progression.

IgAN patients with high risk of CKD progression were recruited in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2017 to October 2021 as study subjects and divided into the glucocorticoid treatment group and supportive treatment group according to whether glucocorticoid therapy was performed. Propensity matching method (PSM) was used to screen patients for cases by 1∶1 matching according to gender, age, 24 h urine protein and eGFR, the clinicopathological data of patients, disease remission, adverse reactions within 1 year were recorded. The patients were followed up from the date of initiation of supportive therapy until October 31, 2022. The primary endpoint event was defined as progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or receiving dialysis. The composite endpoint event was defined as sustained decline in eGFR of more than 30% from baseline, or progression to ESRD, or receiving dialysis or death. Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot survival curves and log-rank test was used to compare differences in the cumulative incidence of the primary/composite endpoint events between the two groups of patients. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to analyze the possible influencing factors of renal prognosis in IgAN patients with high risk of CKD progression.

A total of 236 patients with primary IgAN met the inclusion criteria. After 1∶1 matching, 97 cases in the glucocorticoid treatment group were successfully matched with 97 cases in the supportive therapy group with balanced baseline data. The complete remission rate and partial remission rate of patients in the glucocorticoid treatment group were higher than those in supportive treatment group (χ²=6.171, P=0.013; χ²=3.973, P=0.046) . The median follow-up time was 18.00 (9.75, 28.00) months. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the cumulative incidence of primary endpoint event in the glucocorticoid treatment group was lower than the supportive treatment group (χ²=4.495, P=0.034) and the cumulative survival rate of composite endpoint event in the glucocorticoid therapy group was lower than the supportive therapy group (χ²=4.419, P=0.036) . Among the 236 patients who met the inclusion criteria, there were 177 patients with moderate proteinuria. After 1∶1 matching of the 177 patients on glucocorticoid treatment and supportive treatment by sex, age, 24 h urine protein and eGFR using PSM, 76 cases in each group were successfully matched. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the cumulative incidence of primary endpoint event in the patients on glucocorticoid treatment with moderate proteinuria was lower than those on supportive treatment with moderate proteinuria (χ²=4.127, P=0.042) ; and the cumulative survival rate of composite endpoint event in the patients on glucocorticoid treatment with moderate proteinuria was lower than those on supportive treatment with moderate proteinuria (χ²=4.934, P=0.026) . Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that hemoglobin (HR=0.982) , serum creatinine (HR=1.019) , eGFR (HR=1.020) and 24-hour urine protein (HR=1.205) were influencing factors of primary endpoints event in IgAN patients with high risk of CKD progression. The incidence of infection in the glucocorticoid treatment group was higher than the supportive treatment group (P<0.05) .

In IgAN patients with high risk of CKD progression, compared with simple supportive treatment, glucocorticoid treatment can significantly improve the renal remission rate and reduce the risk of renal function decline and renal failure. However, it is still necessary to be alert to its adverse reactions.