Pregnancy and Progression of IgA Nephropathy: Results of an Italian Multicenter Study

Background Whether pregnancy impacts on the long-term outcome of immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy is unknown. This study aims to compare the long-term outcome of kidney disease in women with IgA nephropathy and preserved kidney function who did and did not become pregnant. Study Design Multicenter longitudinal cohort study. Setting & Participants Women of childbearing age with biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy, serum creatinine level ≤1.2 mg/dL at diagnosis, and minimum follow-up of 5 years after biopsy recruited from 35 nephrology centers participating in a national collaborative study group of pregnancy and kidney disease sponsored by the Italian Society of Nephrology. Predictors Pregnancy, treated as a time-dependent variable; baseline proteinuria; hypertension; and kidney biopsy histologic characteristics. Outcome & Measures Rate of change in estimated creatinine clearance, change in proteinuria, and new-onset hypertension. Results 245 patients were enrolled. Of these, 223 women (136 and 87 in the pregnancy and nonpregnancy groups, respectively) had serum creatinine levels ≤1.2 mg/dL at diagnosis. Baseline data (including age, estimated creatinine clearance, prevalence of hypertension, and histologic grade of kidney damage) were similar between groups with the exception of proteinuria (protein excretion, 1.33 vs 0.95 g/d in the pregnancy vs nonpregnancy groups, respectively; P = 0.03). Kidney function decreased 1.31 mL/min/y (95% CI, 0.99-1.63) during a median follow-up of 10 years (range, 5-31 years) and did not differ between groups. Baseline proteinuria predicted a faster decrease, but did not modify the effect of pregnancy. Pregnancy did not affect changes in proteinuria over time or risk of new-onset hypertension. Limitations Unrecognized or unmeasured factors associated with the decision of becoming pregnant might have influenced results. Conclusions Pregnancy does not seem to affect the long-term outcome of kidney disease in women with IgA nephropathy and preserved kidney function.