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Abstract Background As messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been administered to millions of individuals worldwide, cases of de novo and relapsing glomerulonephritis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination are increasing in the literature. While most previous publications reported glomerulonephritis after the first or second dose of an mRNA vaccine, few reports of glomerulonephritis occurring after the third dose of an mRNA vaccine currently exist. Case presentation We report a case of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis in a patient following the third dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. A 77-year-old Japanese man with a history of hypertension and atrial fibrillation was referred to our hospital for evaluation of anorexia, pruritus, and lower extremity edema. One year before referral, he received two mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2) for COVID-19. Three months before the visit, he received a third mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1273) for COVID-19. On admission, the patient presented severe renal failure with a serum creatinine level of 16.29 mg/dL, which had increased from 1.67 mg/dL one month earlier, prompting us to initiate hemodialysis. Urinalysis showed nephrotic-range proteinuria and hematuria. Renal biopsy revealed mild mesangial proliferation and expansion, a lobular appearance, and double contours of the glomerular basement membrane. Renal tubules had severe atrophy. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed strong mesangial staining for IgA, IgM, and C3c. Electron microscopy exhibited mesangial and subendothelial electron-dense deposits, leading to a diagnosis of IgA nephropathy with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis-like changes. The kidney function remained unchanged after steroid therapy. Conclusions Although the link between renal lesions and mRNA vaccines remains unclear, a robust immune response induced by mRNA vaccines may play a role in the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis. Further studies of the immunological effects of mRNA vaccines on the kidney are warranted.

Adults with minimal-change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) generally receive oral prednisolone (PSL) at an initial dosage of 1.0 mg/kg/day for a minimum of 4 weeks, with 80% of patients achieving clinical remission. However, relapses are frequent, necessitating repeated treatment with high-dose PSL. Long-term treatment with high-dose steroids increases the risk of steroid toxicities, such as diabetes mellitus, gastric complications, infections, osteoporosis, and steroid-induced psychiatric syndrome (SIPS), which may compromise the patient’s quality of life. Strategies are therefore needed to reduce the dosage and duration of steroid therapy for frequently relapsing MCNS (FRNS). Here, we suggest a new combination therapy of low-dose and short-term steroid with cyclosporine (CsA). We encountered an adult patient who developed recurrence of FRNS with depression arising from SIPS and was treated using low-dose, short-term PSL combined with CsA. He was successfully treated with PSL at an initial dosage of 0.3 mg/kg/day (20 mg/day) for just 2 weeks combined with CsA, allowing earlier induction of complete remission. We then promptly reduced the dose of PSL to below a physiological dosage (5 mg/day) over 3 weeks without relapse after episodes of SIPS and quickly resolved psychiatric symptoms. CsA in combination with PSL can reduce the initial dosage of PSL, shorten the time to remission, and easily maintain clinical remission. This protocol appears clinically useful and potentially applicable as a future treatment strategy for FRNS troubled by SIPS.

Uremic toxins (UTs) generally accumulate in patients developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Although some kinds of UTs cause early death after starting hemodialysis (HD), it remains unknown whether the degree of excessive accumulation of various UTs is associated with worsening of prognosis. We retrospectively conducted this cohort study consisting of adult patients developing ESRD who initiated HD at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine from 2010 to 2019. We created a new uremic score, which was defined as the aggregate score of the following variables reflecting uremic state: elevated blood urea nitrogen, β2-microglobulin, and anion gap before starting HD. The primary outcome was early mortality within 1-year after HD commencement. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for a one-point increase in uremic score was calculated with Cox proportional hazard models adjusted by baseline conditions. We included 230 participants, 16 of whom experienced the primary outcome of early mortality after HD commencement. Uremic score was significantly associated with the primary outcome (crude HR: 1.91, 95% CI 1.16–3.14; adjusted HR: 4.19, 95% CI 1.79–9.78). Our novel uremic score, reflecting accumulation of specific UTs, more precisely predicts early mortality after HD commencement.