Efficacy of prednisone combined with mycophenolate mofetil for immunoglobulin A nephropathy with moderate-to-severe renal dysfunction

Table 1 Baseline data of patients in the different treatment groups

Project	GTG	ITG	t value	P value
Male:Female	60:40	61:39	0.021	0.885
Age (yr)	33.15 ± 9.91	34.42 ± 10.04	-0.901	0.369
DBP (mmHg)	93.05 ± 6.98	93.03 ± 7.73	0.019	0.985
SBP (mmHg)	140.60 ± 9.94	141.40 ± 11.17	-0.535	0.593
K (mmol/L)	4.88 ± 0.97	4.72 ± 0.96	1.149	0.252
Hb (g/L)	128.60 ± 14.97	129.65 ± 16.29	-0.472	0.638
GFR (mL-1min-1∙(1.73∙m2)-1)	55.36 ± 3.34	54.70 ± 3.27	1.405	0.162
ALT (U/L)	36.53 ± 3.20	37.12 ± 3.30	-1.279	0.203
T-CHO (mmol/L)	5.59 ± 0.99	5.55 ± 0.99	0.321	0.748
Glu (mmol/L)	5.19 ± 0.69	5.10 ± 0.66	0.883	0.378
BMI (kg/m2)	23.06 ± 2.51	23.29 ± 2.55	-0.717	0.474
Alb (g/L)	22.94 ± 3.20	23.11 ± 3.02	-0.402	0.688
24-h urinary protein quantification (g)	4.01 ± 1.43	3.86 ± 1.37	0.76	0.448
Scr (μmol/L)	121.51 ± 14.58	122.16 ± 15.29	-0.311	0.756

GTG: Glucocorticoid therapy group; ITG: Immunosuppressive therapy group; DBP: Diastolic blood pressure; SBP: Systolic blood pressure; Scr: Serum creatinine; UA: Blood uric acid; BLA: Blood albumin; K: Blood potassium; Hb: Hemoglobin; eGFR: Glomerular filtration rate; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; T-CHO: Total cholesterol; Glu: Fasting blood glucose; BMI: Body mass index.

Table 2 Renal function and proteinuria before and after treatment in both groups

Project	Time	GTG	ITG	t value	P value
24-h urinary protein quantification (g)	Before the treatment	4.01 ± 1.43	3.86 ± 1.37	0.597	0.551
	3 mo after treatment	2.57 ± 0.69a	2.40 ± 0.91a	1.192	0.236
	6 mo after treatment	1.62 ± 0.67a	1.54 ± 0.75a	0.632	0.529
	9 mo after treatment	1.09 ± 0.61a	0.89 ± 0.50a	1.985	0.049
	12 mo after treatment	0.68 ± 0.38a	0.39 ± 0.42a	4.062	< 0.001
Scr (μmol/L)	Before the treatment	121.51 ± 14.58	122.16 ± 15.29	0.244	0.808
	3 mo after treatment	113.02 ± 21.63a	112.00 ± 24.72a	0.247	0.805
	6 mo after treatment	108.15 ± 35.2 a	105.99 ± 34.22a	0.34	0.72
	9 mo after treatment	96.81 ± 34.60 a	82.23 ± 31.41a	2.454	0.016
	12 mo after treatment	80.30 ± 7.45 a	64.76 ± 18.32 a	11.053	< 0.001

^aP < 0.05, compared to before treatment.

GTG: Glucocorticoid therapy group; ITG: Immunosuppressive therapy group; Scr: Serum creatinine.

Table 3 Comparison of efficacy between the two groups (%)

Project	Ineffective	Obvious effect	Effective	Total effective rate
GTG	34	21	45	66
ITG	20	15	65	80
χ2				4.972
P value				0.026

GTG: Glucocorticoid therapy group; ITG: Immunosuppressive therapy group.

Table 4 Prognosis of patients in the two groups

Project	GTG	ITG	χ2	P value
Renal endpoint	14	7
Serious infection	4	2
Serious liver injury	4	2
Serious complication	10	8
Incidence of endpoint events	32%	19%	4.448	0.035
Follow-up time (mo)	10.11 ± 3.09	11.07 ± 2.08	2.000	0.048

GTG: Glucocorticoid therapy group; ITG: Immunosuppressive therapy group.

Table 5 Occurrence of adverse reactions in the two groups

Project	GTG	ITG	χ2	P value
Gastrointestinal reaction	18	22	0.50	0.480
Anemia	15	24	2.580	0.108
Pneumonia	11	18	1.976	0.160
Transaminitis	13	17	0.627	0.428
Leukocytopenia	13	12	0.046	0.831
Diabetes	11	12	0.049	0.825

GTG: Glucocorticoid therapy group; ITG: Immunosuppressive therapy group.