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Lupus nephritis in men is uncommon has a severe clinical presentation and a lower response to treatment when compared to women in European and Asian populations. However, in the Latin American population the evidence is limited.
Objetive: To describe the clinical presentation and response to treatment in men with lupus nephritis and compare it with a matched group of women.
Retrospective study in clinical records of men and women diagnosed with lupus nephritis. Clinical, laboratory and histopathological data were collected at the time of diagnosis. Response to treatment, need for renal replacement therapy, and development of relapses were evaluated. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis; differences between the group of men and women were evaluated by comparison of means and chi-square. A value of p<0.05 was considered significant.
77 men and 77 women were included with a mean age of 30.84±12.56 years, with lupus nephritis classified according to ISN/RPS similar in both genders. Proteinuria was higher in men (7.21±6.31 vs 5.42±4.30 g/24 hours, p=0.042) and hypocomplementemia was more frequent (95.9% vs 84.4%, p=0.019) compared to women. The most used induction therapy in men was monthly boluses of cyclophosphamide + corticosteroids (43 cases, 55.8%) followed by mycophenolate mofetil + corticosteroids (19 cases, 24.7%). The complete + partial renal response was lower in men (42 cases, 57.2%) than in women (64 cases, 83.2%), p=0.001. No difference was observed in relapses (42.9% vs 41.6%, p=0.870) and initiation of renal replacement therapy (18.2% vs 29.9%, p=0.090) between men and women respectively.
In Mexican men with lupus nephritis, proteinuria was higher, hypocomplementemia was more frequent, and response to treatment was lower. No difference was observed in relapses and requirement for renal replacement therapies.