Deregulation of soluble apoptosis stimulating fragment (sFas) plays an important role in glomerulonephritis (GN). The study assed the influence of immunosuppressive treatment on serum and urine sFas in patients with proliferative (PGN) and non-proliferative (NPGN) GN, and evaluated the potential of sFas measurements in predicting outcomes. Eighty-four patients with GN (45 males and 39 females) were included. Serum concentration (ng/mL) and urinary excretion (ng/mg of urinary creatinine) of sFas were measured before and after the treatment. After 12 months of therapy with steroids and cyclophosphamide, patients were divided into two subgroups according to the treatment results: Responders (R) and Non-Responders (NR). The sFas urinary excretion was reduced after treatment in both PGN and NPGN (from 17.12 +/- 15 to 5.3 +/- 4.2, P = 0.008 and from 10.11 +/- 6.1 to 3.4 +/- 3.0, P = 0.039; respectively) whereas the sFas serum concentration remained unchanged. In PGN, pre-treatment urinary sFas concentration was significantly lower in the Responders than in Non-Responders (2.3 +/- 3.1 vs 19.4 +/- 14.1, P = 0.003), and was lower still than in both R (P = 0.044) and NR (P = 0.042) subgroups with NPGN. The immunosuppressive treatment reduced sFas urinary excretion in proliferative and non-proliferative GN and results suggest that the lower urinary sFas may be linked with favorable therapy outcomes in patients with PGN.
Adult ; Antigens, CD95/blood/*urine ; Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use ; Female ; Glomerulonephritis/*drug therapy/metabolism/pathology ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/*therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Steroids/therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome