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Obrișcă B, Vornicu A, Jurubiță R, Achim C, Bobeică R, Andronesi A, Sorohan B, Herlea V, Procop A, Dina C, Ismail G. Corticosteroids are the major contributors to the risk for serious infections in autoimmune disorders with severe renal involvement. Clin Rheumatol 2021; 40:3285-3297. [PMID: 33595739 DOI: 10.1007/s10067-021-05646-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 01/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION We sought to investigate the infection profile and associated risk factors in a compiled cohort of patients with autoimmune disorders with severe renal involvement treated with aggressive immunosuppressive (IS) regimens. METHODS A total of 162 patients with aggressive glomerulonephritis [101 with lupus nephritis (LN), 24 with cryoglobulinemic vasculitis (CryoVasc), and 37 with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV)] were retrospectively reviewed for any infection occurrence. Infection incidence, type, site, and grade (1-5) were recorded. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for infections. RESULTS A total of 179 infection episodes occurred during a follow-up of 468 patient-years. Eighty-two patients (50.6%) had at least one infection. The incidence rates of infections and severe infections were 38.2 and 14.3 events per 100 patient-years. Patients with AAV had more infections than those with CryoVasc and LN (100.6, 47.5, and 26.6 infections per 100-patient-years, respectively; p = 0.002). Most patients developed infections early during the initial induction therapy (62.1% in the first 6 months of follow-up). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, high-dose oral corticosteroids (≥ 0.5 mg/kg/day in the first month of induction therapy) was an independent predictor of any infection (HR 2.66; 95% CI, 1.5-4.73), severe infections (HR 2.45; 95% CI, 1.03-5.82), and pulmonary infections (HR 2.91; 95% CI, 1.05-8.01). Pulmonary involvement increased the risk for pulmonary infections (HR 3.67; 95% CI, 1.32-10.1) and severe infections (HR 2.45; 95% CI, 1.01-5.92). CONCLUSION Infections occur frequently with current IS regimens in aggressive glomerulonephritis. Pulmonary involvement and high-dose corticosteroid regimen were the most significant risk factors for infections. Key Points • Infections occur frequently with current immunosuppressive regimens in autoimmune aggressive glomerulonephritis. • High-dose corticosteroids are the major contributors to the risk for serious infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bogdan Obrișcă
- Department of Nephrology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Fundeni street 258, 022328, Bucharest, Romania. .,Department of Nephrology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania.
| | - Alexandra Vornicu
- Department of Nephrology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Fundeni street 258, 022328, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Roxana Jurubiță
- Department of Nephrology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Fundeni street 258, 022328, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Camelia Achim
- Department of Nephrology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Fundeni street 258, 022328, Bucharest, Romania.,Department of Nephrology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Raluca Bobeică
- Department of Nephrology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Fundeni street 258, 022328, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Andreea Andronesi
- Department of Nephrology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Fundeni street 258, 022328, Bucharest, Romania.,Department of Nephrology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Bogdan Sorohan
- Department of Nephrology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Fundeni street 258, 022328, Bucharest, Romania.,Department of Nephrology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Vlad Herlea
- Department of Pathology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Alexandru Procop
- Department of Pathology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Constantin Dina
- Department of Anatomy, Ovidius University, Constanța, Romania
| | - Gener Ismail
- Department of Nephrology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Fundeni street 258, 022328, Bucharest, Romania.,Department of Nephrology, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
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