LAUSR

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of prednisone monotherapy for phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R)-associated idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). This was a retrospective cohort study involving 32 patients enrolled between January 2017 and June 2019 at Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Seventeen patients received prednisone monotherapy, and 15 received the Ponticelli regimen. The primary outcome was nephrotic syndrome remission at 12th month. The secondary outcomes were the incidence of adverse events and recurrence over the 12-month follow-up. At 12th month, 16/17 patients (94.1%) in the prednisone monotherapy group and 14/15 patients (93.3%) in the Ponticelli regimen group achieved remission (p = 0.19). The adverse events occurred in 9/17 and 9/15 of the patients receiving prednisone monotherapy and the Ponticelli regimen, respectively (p = 0.74). Four and three patients relapsed in the prednisone monotherapy and Ponticelli regimen groups, respectively (p = 0.99). Initial prednisone monotherapy had similar efficacy and safety compared with the Ponticelli regimen for PLA2R-associated IMN. Key Words: PLA2R-associated idiopathic membranous nephropathy, Ponticelli regimen, Prednisone monotherapy.