P0366SAFETY OF STEROID THERAPY IN IGA NEPHROPATHY: THE CLINICAL EXPERIENCE OF 48 NEPHROLOGY UNITS IN ITALY

Abstract Background and Aims Steroid therapy is efficient in inducing remission of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and preventing end stage renal disease (ESRD) but there are concerns about their safety. The TESTING trial in particular has been stopped early because of a higher incidence of side effects than conservative treatment thus inducing a conservative therapy with RAAS (renin angiotensin antagonist system) blockers. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate the incidence of adverse events (AE) in a retrospective observational trial on the real clinical practice. Method We evaluated 1209 patients (pz) with IgAN coming from 48 Italian centers: 285 pz in RAAS blockers alone, 732 treated for 6 months with steroid and 192 with a combination of steroid and other immunosuppressants (also with RAAS blockers). The analysis was limited to the 6 months of therapy. Results The basal characteristics of the 3 groups are shown in the table below. The figure shows the frequencies of 69 adverse events related with immunosuppression: the most frequent were infections (23, 2.73% of all patients, 34.3% of all AE), impaired glycemic control (11, 0.91% of patients, 16% of all AE), severe hypertension (6, 8.7% of all AE) and leukopenia (9, 0.80% of patients, 13% of all AE). Infections were observed in 16 (2.19%) pz in steroid therapy and 7 (3.65%) pz in steroid+immunosoppressive treatment. Liver toxicity and and gastrointestinal AE were observed almost in pz receiving steroid+ immunosuppressants [1(0.14%) and 2 (1.04%) pz, respectively]. 7 pz in steroid therapy (0.96%) and 2 in steroid+ immunosuppressants experienced an impaired glycemic control. All the 9 cases of leucopenia were registered in pz in steroid+ immunosuppressants (4.69%). A slightly higher incidence of allergies was observed in the RAAS blocker group (20 cases, 0.7%). The higher rates of infections and leucopenia were observed in pz above 70 years of age (6.12%,p<0.05), as higher incidence of infections and impaired glycemic control were registered in pz with an eGFR<30 ml/min/1.73 m2 (4.64 and 1.99%,p<0.05). Severe hypertension and leucopenia were observed respectively in 9 and 3 pz with an eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73m2. No significant relationships were found between AE, proteinuria and sex. Multivariate logistic regression showed an independent association of immunosuppressive treatment and age with any AE [ODDS ratio: 3,35 (CI:2,18-5,14) and 1,02 (CI:1,01-1,04), respectively; p<0.05]. Death occurred for sepsis in a 70 years old pz (eGFR=21.7 ml/min/m2, 24hproteinuria=16.1 g/day) after 3 months of treatment. Conclusion the incidence of EA in our observational study is lower than that observed in the TESTING and STOP trials (5.71% vs 14.7% and 40%, respectively). The most frequent AE were almost observed in oldest subjects with impaired renal function on steroid+other immunosuppressants. Though this trial is not randomized nor controlled (RC), it considers a large cohort of pz coming from the real clinical practice of the Italian Nephrology Units and demonstrates that the significantly lower incidence of steroid related AE than that observed in some RC trials doesn’t justify the abstention from steroids in IgAN at risk of progression. Much more attention should be paid in elderly pts with severe renal dysfunction with a closer follow-up, dose adjustments and antibiotic prophilaxis.