The Association of TNF-Alpha Inhibitors and Development of IgA Nephropathy in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Diabetes

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a rather uncommon complication of TNF-alpha inhibition with a range of findings such as asymptomatic microscopic/macroscopic hematuria or different degrees of proteinuria and could progress to end-stage renal disease. We are reporting three patients with longstanding rheuma...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vedran Premužić, Ivan Padjen, Mislav Cerovec, Marijana Ćorić, Bojan Jelaković, Branimir Anić
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Nephrology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/9480860
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Summary:IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a rather uncommon complication of TNF-alpha inhibition with a range of findings such as asymptomatic microscopic/macroscopic hematuria or different degrees of proteinuria and could progress to end-stage renal disease. We are reporting three patients with longstanding rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which developed IgAN while receiving TNF-alpha inhibitors. All off our three patients had RA, which lasted 2–4 years, and none of them had a prior history of chronic kidney disease. Two patients were treated with adalimumab while one patient was treated with golimumab. Discontinuation of anti-TNF-alpha therapy and initiation of immunosuppressive therapy led to improvement in serologic abnormalities and renal function in two patients, while the third patient’s 24-hour proteinuria was only partially reduced, which supports previous reports on TNF-alpha inhibitor induced autoimmunity. Two of our patients had previously been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus while the third patient developed diabetes years after the onset of IgAN. This is in line with the previously described association of IgAN and diabetes mellitus. To our best knowledge, this is the first report to analyze the development of IgAN as a potential consequence of anti-TNF-alpha therapy and its possible association with pretreatment or posttreatment diabetes.
ISSN:2090-6641
2090-665X