Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy in MPO-ANCA related polyangiitis with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis in Japan.

For 30 myeloperoxidase (MPO) antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) related rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis patients (male 17, female 13, average age of 68 +/- 11.8 years old), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) (400 mg/kg/day) was administered for 5 consecutive days before or along with conventional immunosuppressive therapy in Japan. Twenty patients were treated with IVIg before the start or newly increase of conventional therapy and evaluated the independent effect of this therapy. In these patients, just after IVIg, significant decrease of CRP from 8.61 +/- 5.77 to 5.47 +/- 4.50 mg/dl (P < 0.001) was noted with improvement of elevated serum creatinine in 12 out of 19 patients (63%). In the analysis of the overall outcome of 30 patients, at 3 months after IVIg and following conventional therapy, no patients showed renal death except 4 for whom hemodialysis had been started before IVIg. At 6 months, renal survival rate were 92% (newly renal death 2 out of 26) and 2 patients died due to cerebral bleeding (survival rate was 93%). No fatal infection was noted. IVIg might be the potent inducible therapy which can be promoted before the beginning of conventional immunosuppressant treatment for relatively aged and lower immunopotent MPO-ANCA patients in Japan.