De novo glomerulitis associated with graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A single-center experience

Background: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) and proteinuria are uncommon, often unrecognized manifestations of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Only a few isolated case reports and case series involving smaller number of patients who developed NS after HSCT have been published. Methods: We reviewed the renal histopathological examination findings and clinical records of 15 patients who developed proteinuria after HSCT at Seoul and Yeouido St. Mary′s Hospital (Seoul, Korea). We also measured the anti-PLA2R antibodies (M-type phospholipase A2 receptor) in the serum samples from the seven patients at the time of renal biopsy. Results: All patients had GVHD. The most common indication for biopsy was proteinuria (>1 g/day), with nine patients having nephrotic range proteinuria. The most common histopathological finding was membranous nephropathy (MN; n = 12). Other findings were membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, C1q nephropathy, and diabetic nephropathy. Eleven patients were treated with immunosuppressive agents, and three patients were treated only with angiotensin II receptor blocker. The overall response rate, including complete remission (urinary protein level