Clinical outcome in patients with chronic antibody-mediated rejection treated with and without rituximab and intravenous immunoglobulin combination therapy

• Combined rituximab and IVIg therapy (RIT) delay the progression of chronic AMR
• RIT improved allograft outcome in chronic AMR compared with historic control
• Irrespective of proteinuria amount, RIT improved allograft outcome in chronic AMR

We previously reported that rituximab (RTX) and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) combination therapy (RIT) is effective in treating patients with chronic active antibody-mediated rejection (CAMR), and the proteinuria level can determine the response to RIT. However, the results were not compared to those of patients who did not receive RIT. Fifty-nine patients with CAMR were divided into 2 groups: an RIT treated group (n = 25) and a historic control (HC) group who had not received RIT (n = 29). The RIT group was treated with RTX (375 mg/m2) and IVIg (0.4 g/kg) for 4 days. We compared the decline in glomerular filtration rate/month (ΔeGFR), RIT-related complications, and allograft survival rate in both groups. We also compared the allograft survival rate between patients with high proteinuria (spot urine protein/creatinine [PC] ratio > 3.5 g/g) and low proteinuria (PC ratio < 3.5 g/g). ΔeGFR was significantly decreased in the RIT group compared with the HC group after 6 months (P < 0.05). No serious complications were associated with RIT, and only one case of herpes zoster infection developed. The overall allograft survival rate in the RIT group was significantly higher than in the HC group. In both groups, patients with low proteinuria survived better than patients with heavy proteinuria (P < 0.05). The allograft survival rate was greater in the high proteinuria RIT group than that in the HC group. RIT treatment is recommended for delaying the progression of CAMR without serious complications, and is not limited by the presence of heavy proteinuria.