Skip to main content

CASE REPORT article

Front. Med.
Sec. Nephrology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1360979
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploring the Impact of Biologics in Nephrology: Clinical Advances and Future Perspectives View all 3 articles

Promising Response of Proliferative Glomerulonephritis with Monoclonal IgG Deposits to Low-dose Daratumumab: A Case Report

Provisionally accepted
Hongyao Xu Hongyao Xu 1,2Yao Huang Yao Huang 3Ling Dong Ling Dong 1,2Hua Yu Hua Yu 2Bo Lin Bo Lin 2,4*
  • 1 The 1nd Clinical Medical College, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, China
  • 2 Bijie City First People's Hospital, Bijie, Guizhou, China
  • 3 Department of Nephrology, Bijie City First People's Hospital, Bijie, Guizhou, China
  • 4 Urology and Nephrology Center, Department of Nephrology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal immunoglobulin deposits (PGNMID) is a rare disease without standardized treatment modalities. Daratumumab is a human IgG monoclonal anti-CD38 antibody that has been demonstrated to be highly effective and safe in the treatment of PGNMID. This article reports a 66-year-old female who suffered from edema in both lower limbs and face for six years with mild proteinuria and hypoproteinemia. Renal biopsy displayed eight glomeruli, among which two presented with glomerulosclerosis, and the remaining six exhibited moderate diffuse hyperplasia of glomerular mesangial cells and stroma with endothelial cell proliferation. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed lumpy and diffuse deposits of C3, C1q, IgG, and κ light chain in the glomerular mesangium, with strongly positive staining for IgG3 and varying degrees of weak to negative staining for IgG1, IgG2, IgG4, and λ light chain. Additionally, ultrastructural analysis unveiled that the glomerular basement membrane was segmentally thickened, accompanied by diffuse pedicle fusion, segmental tethered insertion, subendothelial deposits, and electron-dense material in tethered areas. The patient received a total dose of 800 mg of daratumumab (400 mg daily for two consecutive days), as well as daily prednisone (25 mg) and valsartan (80 mg), for treatment and achieved complete remission after three-month follow-up. This case represents an early attempt to treat PGNMID with low-dose daratumumab but requires long-term follow-up.

    Keywords: case report, proliferative glomerulonephritis with monoclonal IgG deposits, Daratumumab, MGRS, PGNMID

    Received: 24 Dec 2023; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Xu, Huang, Dong, Yu and Lin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bo Lin, Urology and Nephrology Center, Department of Nephrology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, 310003, Jiangsu Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.