Clinical Study of Mycophenolate Mofetil in Patients with Diffuse Proliferative Lupus Nephritis

Objective:To evaluate the therapeutic effect and side-effect between pulse Cyclophosphamide(CTX) therapy and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in lupus nephritis.Methods:A group(CTX group):20 patients were given intravenous CTX pulse plus oral prednisone 12 months.B group(MMF group):20 patients were given MMF and oral prednisone for 12 months. Patients in two groups were compared in age, sex distribution,severity of renal damage.Results:Both CTX and MMF reduced proteinuria and hematuria and improved renal function and immune indexes. CTX and MMF were effective on inhibition of autoantibodies production( P 0.05).Therapeutic effect of MMF group were better than CTX group.Side- effects of MMF group were less than those in CTX group( P 0.05 ).Conclusion:For the treatment of lupus nephritis, the combination of MMF and prednisone is as effective as the regimen of CTX and prednisone but less toxicity.