Epidemiology, baseline characteristics and risk of progression in the first South-Asian prospective longitudinal observational IgA nephropathy cohort

Glomerular Research And Clinical Experiments–IgA Nephropathy in Indians (GRACE-IgANI) is the first prospective South Asian IgAN cohort with protocolized follow-up and extensive biosample collection. Here we report the baseline clinical, biochemical, and histopathologic characteristics of GRACE IgANI and calculate baseline risk of progression for the cohort. 201 incident adults with kidney biopsy–proven primary IgAN were recruited into GRACE-IgANI between March 2015 and September 2017. As of April 30, 2020, the cohort had completed a median follow-up of 30 months (interquartile range [IQR] 16-39). The commonest clinical presentation in GRACE IgANI was hypertension, with or without proteinuria, and nephrotic-range proteinuria was present in 34%, despite