Post Date December, 03 2023
With the industrialization of society and the aggravation of environmental pollution, the incidence rate of lupus nephritis in China has a rising trend.
In addition to the kidneys, lupus can also cause damage to various systems throughout the body, including the skin and mucosa, bones and muscles, respiratory system, nervous system, blood system, digestive system, heart, etc. These may require treatment during the treatment of lupus kidneys.
Among them, kidney damage is the most severe, and lupus kidney is also the main cause of death in patients with lupus erythematosus. The mortality rate of children with lupus nephritis is is as high as 18.9% -25.4%
Required inspections
1. Anti nuclear antibodies
Anti nuclear antibodies (ANA) are characteristic antibodies of lupus, with a positive rate of up to 98%
In addition, anti dsDNA antibodies, high titer anti dsDNA antibodies, and anti Sm antibodies are also very important for the diagnosis of lupus.
2. C3/C4 examination, as well as other autoantibodies.
Treatment plan and principles
Lupus erythematosus causes immune damage to the kidneys, mainly related to immune complex formation, immune cell and cytokine abnormalities. Therefore, immunotherapy with hormones and immunosuppressants is essential.
Generally speaking, mild mesangial lupus and mesangial proliferative lupus are treated with medium to low doses of hormones. When the effect of hormone therapy alone is not satisfactory, immunosuppressants can be used.
Severe focal lupus, diffuse lupus, and membranous lupus require high-dose immunosuppressive therapy, followed by low-dose maintenance after the induction phase.
Reduce side effects
The current main effective treatment method is immunosuppressive agents combined with plasma exchange, but it can easily cause new damage to patients.
Especially the necrosis of the femoral head caused by hormones can cause great harm to patients with lupus nephritis.
Due to the widespread presence of inflammation, immunosuppressants are necessary, but their side effects can be alleviated through traditional Chinese medicine.
Since inflammation is an immune response caused by the deposition of immune complexes, clearing immune complexes is the key. Plasma exchange has a good cleaning effect on immune complexes in the blood, but its effect on immune complexes in the kidneys is not significant.
In addition to helping to clean up immune complexes, traditional Chinese medicine can also enhance the body's immune system and reduce the damage of immunosuppressants to the constitution.
