Recent Progress in Deciphering the Etiopathogenesis of Primary Membranous Nephropathy

Table 3

Baseline characteristics and presence of PLA2R-Ab with respective associations and correlations with outcome and variables are highlighted. ß2m (ß2-microglobulin), eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate), PLA2R-Ab (phospholipase A2R-antibody). of different variables after adjustment of the respective antibody titers for fractional IgG excretion.

Reference	Country	Number of patients	Correlations/associations
[34]	Netherlands	101	Baseline creatinine (); Antibody levels and proteinuria (); Spontaneous remission in seronegative patients ()
[17]	Netherlands, France	77/79	Antibody levels and proteinuria; Antibody levels and serum creatinine () and eGFR; Spontaneous remission more frequently in patients within the lowest PLA2R-Ab tertile (); Highest tertile more often needed immunosuppression, and higher levels were associated with longer time to remission ()
[19]	Netherlands	18	Antibody levels positively correlated with proteinuria (), serum ß2m (), urinary IgG excretion (), urinary ß2m excretion (), and serum creatinine () and negatively correlated with eGFR ()
[35]	Germany	118	Patients in the highest tertile were older (), had lower serum albumin (), and higher systolic blood pressure (); Antibody level (IgG) is associated with outcome (serum creatinine increase ≥ 25% or creatinine level ≥ 1.3 mg/dl); Patients in tertile 3 reached the outcome parameters more frequently () and significantly faster; Proteinuria was higher at the time of last follow-up in patients within tertile 3 ()
[36]	UK	90	High PLA2R-Ab levels associated with an increased risk of progression ()
[37]	Italy	81	Patients in the lowest tertile antibody group had lower proteinuria compared to both other groups
[38]	France	75	Lower PLA2R-Ab levels associated with achievement of the primary end point (complete or partial remission)
[20]	Germany	133	PLA2R-Ab levels correlated with proteinuria and serum creatinine; Lower PLA2R-Ab titers were associated with a faster time to remission and remission was achieved more frequently
[22]	India	114	PLA2R-Ab positivity was associated with treatment resistance (); Higher levels were associated with resistant disease (55%); low titers were associated with remission (68%)
[25]	China	392	PLA2R-Ab positivity was associated with a higher level of proteinuria () and a lower level of eGFR (); Antibody levels correlated with proteinuria (), serum albumin (), and eGFR (); Patients with glomerular positivity (undetectable antibodies) were more likely to achieve complete remission ()
[21]	Korea	69	PLA2R-Ab positivity was associated with lower serum albumin () and higher levels of proteinuria () and nephrotic range proteinuria was more frequently observed ()
[23]	China	53	PLA2R-Ab positivity was associated with higher proteinuria () and nephrotic range proteinuria ()
[28]	Japan	19	Serum IgG levels were significantly lower in PLA2R-Ab positive patients; Serum albumin correlated inversely with serum PLA2R-Ab titers