Cyclosporine treatment of lupus membranous nephropathy.

Few studies describe the treatment of membranous nephropathy associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. Although cyclosporine-A has been used to treat patients with the nephrotic syndrome and also with systemic lupus, only a few of these patients have had lupus membranous nephropathy. In this pilot study, we assessed the safety and efficacy of cyclosporine in ten nephrotic patients with either pure membranous lupus nephropathy (seven patients) or membranous lupus nephropathy with superimposed mild proliferative lesions (three patients). Cyclosporine (4-6 mg/kg/day) alone (2 patients), or in conjunction with low dose corticosteroids (8 patients) was given for a period of up to 43 months