Active clinical trials for "Nephrotic Syndrome"

Nephrotic syndrome in children is primarily caused by minimal change disease. Majority of these patients respond well to corticosteroids. However, as many as 70% of children with nephrotic syndrome experience at least one relapse, and 30% develop a more complicated course with frequent relapses (FRNS)(≥2 relapses/ 6 months) with or without steroid dependency (SDNS)(relapse during tapering or within 2 weeks after discontinuation of corticosteroids). Repeated and prolonged courses of steroids in these children often result in long-term complications. The goal of the treatment is to reduce the rate of relapses, the cumulative dose of corticosteroids, and the incidence of serious complications. In order to minimize the side effects of steroid therapy, different steroid sparing agents such as cyclophosphamide, calcineurin inhibitors(CNI), levamisole, and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) have been used in SDNS. Whereas CNI are usually considered the steroid sparing drug class of first choice, rituximab is increasingly used as alternative to minimize CNI toxicity. Various prospective studies suggest that Rituximab, a B cell depleting monoclonal antibody, could be a safe and effective alternative to steroid or immunosuppressants to achieve and maintain remission in this population.Single rituximab course have been shown to be efficacious for 6 to 12 months and the side effect profile observed to date is very benign. Studies comparing the usefulness of these agents are lacking. In our proposed randomized controlled trial, the investigators want to compare the efficacy and safety of CNI to that of Rituximab in treating children with SDNS.

It is a pilot study to explore the efficacy and safety of Tacrolimus Sustained-release Capsules (ADVAGRAF) on 6-month induction therapy of Refractory Nephrotic Syndrome (RNS).

A multicenter, randomized, study will be performed to evaluate the efficacy of low dose steroid combined with mycophenolic acid (MyforticR) versus high dose steroid in inducing remission in adults with minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS). One hundred and fourteen patients (CPP decision 2009-04-02-a5) will be included in this study. They will be randomly assigned to an open label treatment with either prednisone 1 mg/kg/day (arm A) or 0,5 mg/kg/day plus myforticR 1440 mg/day (arm B) for four weeks. The outcome will be compared during one-year follow up

Background Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is a rare disease beginning during childhood and treated with immunosuppressants (i.e. steroids, mycophenolate mofetil, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine). Renal function of patients suffering from severe, steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome with failure or toxic side effects of other immunosuppressant treatments is a major matter of concern. Cyclosporine endangers renal parenchyma (fibrosis) in these patients who must take this treatment for years. At the same time, low doses of cyclosporine allow proteinuria to reappear, which provokes degradation of renal function by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Some recent data lead to the conclusion that Rituximab may be effective in such a disease, with a cyclosporin sparing effect. Purpose The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of Rituximab versus placebo in the treatment of pediatric patients suffering from severe cyclosporine-dependent nephrotic syndrome. Abstract Patients will be included in the study in a period of remission of proteinuria. Two infusions of Rituximab - at the dose of 375 mg/m²- or placebo will be administered at one week of interval. Other immunosuppressant treatments will be gradually tapered off with the same tapering pattern in both groups. In case of relapse of nephrotic syndrome, the blinding code will be broken. Rituximab will then be infused to patients having received placebo.

This study will examine the effectiveness of the drug pirfenidone in treating focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Patients with this disease have kidney fibrosis (scarring) and proteinuria (excessive excretion of protein in the urine). About half of patients with FSGS eventually require kidney dialysis or transplant. Steroids, which are currently used to treat the disease, are effective in only a minority of patients. Other drugs, such as cyclosporin and cyclophosphamide, improve proteinuria in a very small percentage of patients and have serious side effects. Patients with FSGS who wish to participate in this study will undergo pre-study evaluation with blood and urine tests. Patients must be on a stable dose of an ACE inhibitor (a drug that lowers blood pressure and reduces proteinuria) for at list 6 months before starting pirfenidone therapy. (Patients who are not already taking an ACE inhibitor will be started on the drug; those who cannot tolerate ACE inhibitors will be given a different drug.) Patients with elevated cholesterol will take a cholesterol-lowering drug. A diet containing approximately 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day will be recommended. Patients will take pirfenidone by mouth 3 times a day for 12 months. Blood and urine will be tested once a month, either at NIH or by the patient's local kidney specialist. They will collect two 24-hour urine samples at the beginning of the treatment period, at 2-month intervals throughout the study, and at a 6-month follow-up. Patients will also be asked to give three to five tubes of blood and urine samples for analysis during the study. In animal studies, pirfenidone improved kidney function and proteinuria and reduced kidney scarring in rats with a disease similar to FSGS. In human studies, pirfenidone improved breathing and survival in patients with lung fibrosis.

To determine the efficacy of tacrolimus in the management of NS(nephrotic syndrome) , the investigators designed this prospective study. The investigators will enroll 100 children with NS(frequent relapse steroid dependent NS, steroid resistance NS) who will be treated with tacrolimus (0.1-0.2 mg/kg/day in two divided doses over 12 h adjusted to a trough level between 5 and 10 ng/ml) for 12 months in combination with low-dose steroids. Other therapies will be included angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, antihypertensive drugs, multivitamins and lipid-lowering agents. Follow-up is every second week for the first 4 weeks, then monthly. After initiation of tacrolimus therapy, blood was drawn each visit to determine tacrolimus trough levels.

This is a prospective open labeled trial examining the efficacy of ACTHar Gel (porcine ACTH) on the level of proteinuria in patients with diabetic nephropathy and nephrotic range proteinuria.

The thromboembolic risk is increased during the nephrotic syndrome (NS) with an incidence of deep vein thrombosis 15%, pulmonary embolism of 10-30% and renal vein thrombosis of 25-37%. There is a hemostatic imbalance with urinary leakage of anticoagulant factors and increased hepatic synthesis of procoagulant factors, platelet hyperaggregability and a decrease in fibrinolytic activity. However, the identification of patients requiring anticoagulant prophylaxis remains imprecise.The thromboembolic risk is higher when the NS is related to extramembranous glomerulonephritis comparatively to others glomerulopathies. The reason of this difference is not still known. This risk increase with SN's severity and therefore with the decrease of albuminemia. Moreover, few studies have evaluated anticoagulant treatment efficacy during a NS, which clinical benefit depends also on hemorrhagic risk specific of each patient. Thus, the determination of the thrombotic risk and the modalities of anticoagulation are variable and perfectible during the NS. We propose to use the thrombin generation test (TGT) to quantify the thromboembolic risk in patients with a NS and to follow its evolution during prophylactic anticoagulation and after remission of NS.

A phase II open-label, single arm study aimed to ascertain whether infusions of cord-blood mesenchymal stromal cells (CB-MSCs) allow to reduce or suspend the chronic immunosuppressive therapy (IS) in steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome (SDNS). We plan to enroll 11 patients aged 3 to 18 with SDNS in remission for at least one month, maintained by either ≥2 immunosuppressive drugs or a calcineurin inhibitor. Patients are infused with cord-blood allogenic MSC, selected by in-vitro alloreactivity, at a dose of 1.5x10^6/kg on days 0, 14, 21. The immunosuppressive treatment is gradually tapered starting at the first CB-MSC administration, according to the following scheme: 25% following the first administration, 50% following the second administration, and 100% reduction following the third administration. All patients will be followed-up for 6 months from the last CB-MSC. Study visits are planned at baseline during CB-MSC administrations, 2 weeks (follow-up [FU]1) and 6 weeks (FU2) after the last infusion, and then every 6 weeks. During follow-up, the patients undergo a physical examination (including measurement of height, weight and blood pressure) and laboratory evaluations (urinary protein:urinary creatinine ratio, complete blood count, kidney function, plasma proteins, liver function, triglycerides and cholesterol). In addition, a blood sample is taken for regulatory T lymphocyte quantification, a marker of clinical response to the infusions.

To compare the therapeutic effect of tacrolimus in combination with low-dose corticosteroid with high-dose corticosteroid alone in patients with minimal-change nephrotic syndrome.