Type of immune and complement deposits and response of immunosuppressive treatment on Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis -- a single centre experience.

OBJECTIVE To see the response of steroid and cyclophosphamide if membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis is classified by pattern of immune and complement deposits. METHODS The retrospective study was conducted at The Kidney Centre, Karachi, and comprised patients treated for membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis between 1996 and 2013. Records of patients who were not treated with immunosuppressive medications were excluded. Patients were classified according to the types of immune deposits; one group had patients with only Complement factor 3 deposits, and the other with Complement factor 3 and immunoglobulin deposits. The effect of steroid alone and steroid with cyclophosphamide was observed on two histological patterns, according to the severity of kidney dysfunction and degree of interstitial fibrosis. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS Of the 54 patients, 31(57%) were males and 23(42%) were females, with an overall mean age of 30.26±15.41 years. Group with Complement factor 3deposits had 17(31%) patients, while that with Complement factor 3 and immunoglobulin had 37(68%). Both groups were similar in terms of clinical and laboratory parameters (p>0.05). Both groups showed better response when treated with steroid and cyclophosphamide: 8/9(88.9%) vs. 3/8(37.5%) in Complement factor 3 only; and 10/15(66.7%) vs. 12/22(54.5%) in Complement factor 3 with immunoglobulin. Increasing severity of interstitial fibrosis (p=0.014) and presence of renal dysfunction (p=0.001) hampered the response. After adjusting the confounders, the odds ratio of response was 4.654(95%confidence interval: 0.957-22.63) in patients who received the treatment with steroid and cyclophosphamide compared to steroid alone. CONCLUSIONS Steroids and cyclophosphamide together have a beneficial role if treatment is initiated early in the course of the disease.