Efficacy of low or high-dose rituximab treatment in membranous nephropathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background: Rituximab (RTX) has emerged as a promising therapeutic option in patients with primary membranous nephropathy (MN). But the optimal dosing of RTX protocol has not been established. Recently, favorable outcomes even with low-dose of RTX has been described in MN patients. Thus, the aim of this meta-analysis is to compare the efficacy and safety between high-dose and low-dose RTX in patients with MN.Methods: After literature search, eligible studies were further classified into high-dose and low-dose groups according to the dosage of one cycle RTX therapy. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate remission rates and changes in biological indicators in two groups. Results: Eight studies involving 588 patients were included in this meta-analysis. In comparison to the control groups (including cyclosporin, cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, prednisone, non-immunosuppressive anti-proteinuria treatment), RTX significantly improved the complete remission (CR) rate. Furthermore, there is no significant difference between high-dose and low-dose RTX in inducing total remission (TR) and CR. Also, high-dose RTX did not significantly improve serum albumin, creatine and urinary protein levels when compared with the low-dose RTX group. However, high-dose RTX did reduce the serum PLA2R antibody titers in patients. Even the difference was not significant, there was a tendency for low-dose RTX to have less serious adverse events (SAEs) than high-dose RTX groups. Conclusion: RTX administration indicated a better efficacy than the control strategies for the treatment of primary MN. And a low-dose regimen of RTX was non-inferior to high-dose usage in inducing long-term TR up to 24 months and holds the superior tendency in preventing SAEs in MN patients.