Latest Treatment of Lupus Nephritis

Lupus Nephritis is a serious manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Nearly all patients with SLE have renal injury in varying degrees. Therefore, even if they do not have obvious clinical symptoms, they should also not neglect the screening. Early inspection and treatment are significantly important to improve renal outcome.

Autoimmunity plays a major role in the pathogenesis of Lupus Nephritis. In some cases, the immune system is activated improperly and can not tell the foreign pathological substances from that of its body’s own. The autoantibodies form pathological immune complexes and deposit in glomeruli. Also the autoantibodies bind to antigens already located glomeruli forming immune complexes in situ. Immune complexes promote an inflammatory response by activating complement and attracting inflammatory cells thus leading to inflammation of glomeruli. As for the underlying cause of Lupus Nephritis, immunotherapy is recommended to the patients.

In immunotherapy, immune-blocking therapy can stop the production of the autoantibodies and decrease the abnormal factors in blood. As the immune complexes have formed in blood, it is essential to remove them so as to stop the further deposition in glomeruli. The goal of clearing up immune complexes is achieved by immune-clearing therapy in immunotherapy. However, the immune complexes have deposited in glomeruli, if they are not removed, they will cause further inflammatory response thus leading to damage to kidneys again. Immune-regulation therapy, on one hand, it can clear up the immune complexes by degrading the immune complexes. On the other hand, it also can regulate the patients’ autoimmunity and improve the clearance ability of the body.

Meanwhile, the patients with Lupus Nephritis should know that inflammatory response has damage the renal cells, especially for those with serious decline in renal function.

After the above systemic treatment, the patients’ renal function can improve obviously and effectively. Also they can avoid the relapse and side effects due to hormonetherapy.

Learn More: Lupus Nephritis: Can I Stop Dialysis When My Creatinine Level Decreases