Risk factors of renal trauma in children with severe Henoch-Schonlein purpura and effect of mycophenolate mofetil on pediatric renal function
Introduction
Severe Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a common pediatric condition, which usually involves multiple organs and leads to various degrees of purpura, abdominal pain, joint damage and other symptoms in affected children. Renal trauma (RT) is one of the most prevalent complications in severe HSP patients, and 8% of child patients with this complication will develop renal failure, which seriously affects their long-term prognosis (1-3). Currently, clinical studies have explored the risk factors of RT affecting children with HSP, and most literature has confirmed that D-dimer level and platelet level are the risk factors affecting the prognosis of children (4-6). However, there is no report on the classification of the risk factors in HSP children with RT and children without RT. Mycophenolate mofetil, which is often used in the treatment of platelet destruction and abnormal D-dimer levels, can alleviate D-dimer levels in affected children and at the same time improve their immune function, thereby normalizing leukocyte secretion. Previous studies have applied mycophenolate mofetil to the treatment of HSP children; however, the researches did not differentiate children with RT from those free of RT. Practice has shown that mycophenolate mofetil can trigger adverse reactions, and Bukulmez et al. have claimed that the adverse reactions are closely related to the application dose (7). Therefore children can be classified with or without RT, and low-dose mycophenolate mofetil can be applied to children without renal trauma to reduce the incidence of adverse reactions. Based on this, to further explore the risk factors of RT affecting children with severe HSP and the effect of mycophenolate mofetil on pediatric patients’ renal function, 120 children with severe HSP admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to January 2020 were selected for the study, with the results summarized as follows. We present the following article in accordance with the STROBE reporting checklist (available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tp-21-493).
Methods
General information
A total of 120 severe HSP children admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to January 2020 were selected as the research cohort and divided into the RT group (n=45) and RT-free group (n=75) according to their condition, with no statistical differences presenting in comparison of their general information (P>0.05), see Table 1. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013) (8). The study was approved by ethics committee of Shengli Oilfield Central Hospital (approval No. 20181172) and individual consent for this retrospective analysis was waived.
Table 1
Group | N | Gender | Mean age (years) | Mean body weight (kg) | Pathological type | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Male | Female | Simple | Joint | Mixed | Renal | Abdominal | ||||
RT group | 45 | 30 | 15 | 8.12±1.21 | 18.21±6.51 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
RT-free group | 75 | 40 | 35 | 8.22±1.23 | 18.54±6.52 | 20 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 15 |
t/χ2 | 2.057 | 0.434 | 0.269 | 0.605 | 0.050 | 0.727 | 2.469 | 0.090 | ||
P value | 0.151 | 0.665 | 0.789 | 0.437 | 0.824 | 0.394 | 0.116 | 0.765 |
RT, renal trauma.
Inclusion criteria
The inclusion criteria of the study were as follows: (I) the child or their family members fully understood the study process and signed the informed consent; (II) the child was diagnosed with severe HSP for the first time (9); (III) the child presented clinical symptoms such as purpura of lower limbs and abdominal pain (10,11); and (IV) the child had stable vital signs.
Exclusion criteria
The exclusion criteria for participation in the study were as follows: (I) presence of mental problems or inability to communicate with others; (II) comorbidity of other organic diseases; (III) use of anticoagulants within 1 month before the study; (IV) presence of congenital immune diseases, or diseases such as coagulation disorders (12-15); and (V) recent administration of drugs that may cause renal function damage.
Study methods
Risk factor investigation
The basic information of the participants, including their age, gender, and symptoms, was recorded in the epidemiological investigation, during which their family members were informed of the meaning of professional terms, so as to ensure that they understood and gave relevant answers. On the day of admission, venous blood was drawn from the participants, routine blood, urine, feces tests, immunology examination, hepatic and renal function tests, and so on were conducted, and the test results were recorded.
Treatments
All participants accepted the conventional anti-coagulation and anti-infection treatment, and orally took the mycophenolate mofetil tablets (manufactured: Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China; NMPA approval No. H20052083) on this basis. The clinical application dosage of the tablets was 20–35 mg/(kg·d). Considering the young age of the included children, the lowest dose was selected for children without RT, and 25 mg/(kg·d) was for children with renal trauma to reduce the incidence of adverse reactions. Therefore, the dosages for the RT-free group and RT group were 20 and 25 mg/kg/d, respectively, which were taken in 2 split doses every day for 10 months.
Diagnostic criteria
HSP diagnostic criteria. Children were diagnosed with HSP if they had skin purpura without thrombocytopenia or coagulation dysfunction, accompanied by at least one of the following items: (I) diffuse abdominal pain; (II) arthritis or joint pain; (III) IgA-based immune complex deposition in tissue biopsy.
RT diagnostic criteria: (I) low fever, sore throat and fatigue in 1–3 weeks before onset; (II) typical skin purpura mainly in the limbs, possibly accompanied by abdominal pain, joint pain, joint swelling and other extrarenal manifestations; (III) renal damage, such as hematuria, proteinuria, hypertension and renal insufficiency; and (IV) IgA-based immunoglobulin deposition in the mesangial area in renal biopsy, and hyperplasia of mesangial cells and matrix.
Observation criteria
- Single factor analysis on RT affecting severe HSP children was conducted.
- Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the high risk factors from the result of single factor analysis on RT affecting severe HSP children (16).
- The effect of mycophenolate mofetil on renal function in children was explored. The fasting peripheral venous blood was extracted in the morning, and an automatic hematology analyzer (Germany imported automatic hematology analyzer Coatron 1800 with original reagents, NMPA Certified No. 20132402724) was used to determine the serum creatinine, urine nitrogen, D-dimer, and β2-MG levels (17).
- The immune indexes of the two groups were compared. The fasting peripheral venous blood was extracted in the morning, and a double-diameter immunoturbidimetric analyzer (American Beckman GEM3000 with original reagents, NMPA Certified No. 20082401894) was adopted to determine the complement C3, complement C4, and immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels.
- The adverse reaction rates (ARR) of participants were compared between the 2 groups, and the adverse reactions included gastrointestinal reaction, low leucocyte amount, elevated transaminase, and hepatic dysfunction.
Statistical processing
In this study, the data processing software SPSS 20.0 (IBM Corp., Chicago, IL, USA), and the illustration software GraphPad Prism 7 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA) were used. The grouping was performed by random sampling method, and the missing values of the patients were deleted from total samples. Items included were enumeration data and measurement data, methods used were chi-squared (χ2) test and t-test, and differences were considered statistically significant at P<0.05. Logistic regression analysis was adopted for the abnormal factors (high risk factors with P<0.05) in the result of single factor analysis on RT affecting severe HSP children.
Results
Single factor analysis on RT affecting severe HSP participants
The univariate analysis showed that recurrent rash, adenovirus infection, respiratory virus infection, D-dimer level, interleukin-6 (IL-6) level, interleukin-10 (IL-10) level, leukocyte level, high density lipoprotein (HDL) level, urinary albumin (UA) level, fasting blood glucose level, coagulation index, and platelet level were the risk factors of RT affecting severe HSP participants (Tables 2,3).
Table 2
Risk factors | RT group (n=45) | RT-free group (n=75) | χ2 | P value |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gender | 0.000 | 1.000 | ||
Male | 30 | 50 | ||
Female | 15 | 25 | ||
Age | 0.640 | 0.424 | ||
≥10 years old | 28 | 52 | ||
<10 years old | 17 | 23 | ||
Abdominal pain | 0.000 | 1.000 | ||
Yes | 12 | 20 | ||
No | 33 | 55 | ||
Joint swelling and pain | 0.114 | 0.735 | ||
Yes | 38 | 65 | ||
No | 7 | 10 | ||
Recurrent rash | 5.184 | 0.023 | ||
Yes | 42 | 58 | ||
No | 3 | 17 | ||
Alimentary tract hemorrhage | 0.056 | 0.813 | ||
Yes | 20 | 35 | ||
No | 25 | 40 | ||
Respiratory virus infection | ||||
Syncytial virus infection | 5 | 10 | 0.127 | 0.722 |
Adenovirus infection | 17 | 12 | 7.279 | 0.007 |
Influenza virus infection | 13 | 13 | 2.213 | 0.137 |
No infection | 10 | 40 | 11.200 | 0.001 |
RT, renal trauma; HSP, Henoch-Schonlein purpura.
Table 3
Risk factors | RT group (n=45) | RT-free group (n=75) | t | P value |
---|---|---|---|---|
D-dimer (mg/L) | 4.51±1.23 | 3.35±0.98 | 5.696 | <0.001 |
IL-1β (ng/L) | 64.21±5.23 | 62.69±5.24 | 1.539 | 0.126 |
IL-6 (ng/L) | 55.62±5.14 | 53.59±4.98 | 2.136 | 0.035 |
IL-10 (ng/L) | 58.98±3.68 | 56.14±3.54 | 4.192 | <0.001 |
Leucocyte (x109/L) | 7.14±2.15 | 15.89±4.25 | 12.845 | <0.001 |
LDL (mmol/L) | 3.42±0.35 | 3.35±0.32 | 1.120 | 0.265 |
HDL (mmol/L) | 2.12±0.36 | 1.98±0.25 | 2.510 | 0.013 |
UA (mg/L) | 50.65±10.11 | 21.56±10.58 | 14.824 | <0.001 |
Fasting blood glucose (mmol/L) | 4.15±1.21 | 3.41±1.00 | 3.623 | <0.001 |
Coagulation index | 2.56±0.21 | 1.45±0.25 | 24.956 | <0.001 |
Platelet (×109/L) | 356.65±29.98 | 275.65±30.55 | 14.159 | <0.001 |
RT, renal trauma; HSP, Henoch-Schonlein purpura; IL-1β; interleukin-1β; IL-6, interleukin-6; IL-10, interleukin-10; LDL, low density lipoprotein; HDL, high density lipoprotein; UA, urinary albumin.
Multivariate logistic regression analysis on RT affecting severe HSP participants
After logistic regression analysis, it was confirmed that recurrent rash, adenovirus infection, D-dimer level, leukocyte level, UA level, and platelet level were the risk factors of RT affecting severe HSP children (Table 4).
Table 4
Indicators | B | Wald value | P value | OR | 95% CI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Recurrent rash | 1.655 | 20.541 | <0.001 | 2.587 | 1.956–5.121 |
Adenovirus infection | 1.215 | 14.567 | <0.001 | 2.951 | 1.564–5.651 |
Respiratory virus infection | 1.752 | 22.065 | <0.001 | 2.657 | 1.258–9.124 |
D-dimer level | 1.424 | 15.658 | 0.002 | 4.514 | 1.904–12.711 |
IL-6 level | −1.147 | 63.265 | 0.142 | 0.351 | 0.257–4.823 |
IL-10 level | −0.256 | 60.256 | 0.122 | 0.354 | 0.354–3.568 |
Leukocyte level | 1.435 | 17.265 | <0.001 | 3.981 | 2.117–7.295 |
HDL level | −1.215 | 65.125 | 0.152 | 0.541 | 0.144–3.688 |
UA level | 1.215 | 14.567 | <0.001 | 2.951 | 1.564–5.651 |
Fasting blood glucose level | −1.124 | 71.759 | 0.125 | 0.326 | 0.145–2.657 |
Coagulation index | 0.424 | 2.581 | 0.112 | 1.512 | 0.904–2.711 |
Platelet level | 1.158 | 15.685 | <0.001 | 2.357 | 1.357–4.521 |
RT, renal trauma; HSP, Henoch-Schonlein purpura; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; IL-6, interleukin-6; IL-10, interleukin-10; HDL, high density lipoprotein; UA, urinary albumin.
Research on effect of mycophenolate mofetil on participants’ renal function
After treatment, the renal function indicators of children in both groups were significantly better than before (P<0.05), and the renal function indicators of the RT-free group were significantly better than those of the RT group (P<0.05) (Table 5).
Table 5
Group | Serum creatinine (μmol/L) | Urine nitrogen (mmol/L) | D-dimer (mg/L) | β2-MG (mg/L) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Before | After | Before | After | Before | After | Before | After | ||||
RT group | 105.65±12.65 | 86.11±7.98* | 5.56±0.65 | 4.59±1.22* | 5.20±1.11 | 3.45±0.58* | 0.98±0.11 | 0.45±0.09* | |||
RT-free group | 92.65±10.68 | 68.98±6.88* | 5.19±0.11 | 4.10±0.68* | 4.65±0.98 | 2.98±0.44* | 0.75±0.10 | 0.32±0.12* | |||
t | 6.109 | 12.428 | 4.829 | 2.827 | 2.831 | 5.017 | 11.746 | 6.280 | |||
P value | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.006 | 0.006 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
*, indicated P<0.05 compared with the indicator before treatment in same group. RT, renal trauma.
Comparison of participants’ immune indicators between the 2 groups
After treatment, the immune indicators in participants of both groups were significantly better than before (P<0.05), and the immune indicators of the RT-free group were significantly better than those of the RT group (P<0.05) (Table 6).
Table 6
Group | Complement C3 (g/L) | Complement C4 (g/L) | IgA (mg/L) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Before | After | Before | After | Before | After | |||
RT group | 1.68±0.32 | 1.32±0.11* | 0.15±0.05 | 0.32±0.08* | 2.10±0.87 | 1.51±0.54* | ||
RT-free group | 1.50±0.22 | 1.23±0.10* | 0.17±0.06 | 0.40±0.08* | 1.89±0.85 | 1.32±0.35* | ||
t | 3.646 | 4.596 | 1.878 | 5.303 | 1.299 | 2.339 | ||
P value | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.063 | <0.001 | 0.197 | 0.021 |
*, indicated P<0.05 compared with the indicator before treatment in same group. IgA, immunoglobulin A.
Comparison of ARR between the 2 groups
No severe adverse reactions were reported among all participants, and no statistical difference was presented when comparing the ARR between the 2 groups (P>0.05) (Figure 1).
A total of 3 participants in RT group and 1 participant in RT-free group had gastrointestinal reaction (χ2=2.483, P=0.115); 1 patient in the RT group and 1 participant in RT-free group had low leucocyte level (χ2=0.136, P=0.713); 2 participants in RT group and 1 participant in RT-free group with elevated transaminase (χ2=1.117, P=0.291); and 3 participants in RT group and 1 participant in RT-free group had hepatic dysfunction (χ2=2.483, P=0.115).
Discussion
The possibility of HSP complicated by RT is more than 60%, and this complication is an independent factor affecting the prognosis of children with severe HSP (18-20). At present, many studies have confirmed that recurrent rash and platelet levels are closely related to HSP complicated with RT. The recurrent rash implies the occurrence of allergic vasculitis, which can further induce glomerular inflammatory lesions that lead to RT in HSP children, and platelets accelerate the rate of immune complex deposition, so it is closely related to glomerular diseases. This study showed that the platelet level in HSP children with RT was significantly higher than in those without RT (P<0.001), demonstrating that under the condition of immune dysfunction, more platelets would be released from the bone marrow to maintain the amount inside the body, causing steep rise in platelet count (21-23). HSP is a disease of immune system, and its occurrence and development are closely related to immune system disorders. In the late period of HSP, the immune factor consumption in affected children decreases, at which point platelets show a downward trend, and therefore the changes in platelet level should be observed in combination with the child’s condition.
Apart from the above factors, adenovirus infection, respiratory virus infection, D-dimer level, leukocyte level, and UA level were also confirmed as risk factors of RT affecting severe HSP children via logistic regression analysis. Among them, adenovirus infection, a respiratory virus infection, was listed separately because its indicators reached the range of statistical difference. Respiratory infections are capable of uninterrupted stimulation of the immune system in children, aggravating their immune imbalance, and then causing corresponding damage to the renal basement membrane and consequent renal damage. Measurement of D-dimer is often used to detect thrombosis, and the increased presence of this substance indicates elevated blood viscosity in children and the massive accumulation of inflammatory factors at the kidney site, leading to exacerbated renal injury (24). The study results showed that pediatric participants who took mycophenolate mofetil had better IgA indicators and lower D-dimer level levels, and the positive correlation between the 2 could reflect the pathological course, namely, both the improved immune function and decreased D-dimer level could reduce RT in children, so mycophenolate mofetil could optimize their prognosis.
In the study conducted by Nikibakhsh et al., the UA level was used as an indicator to evaluate the prognosis of children because the substance could not pass through the glomerular membrane but would be absorbed by the renal tubule after RT with elevated albumin filtration level, indicating that renal injury in children could be predicted by UA level (25). This study also identified UA as a risk factor for childhood kidney injury. After immune disorders occur, the leukocyte level in children will be significantly reduced, which may be related to many factors and cannot be used alone to predict renal injury in children, so complements C3 and C4, respectively reflecting renal diseases such as nephritis and immune diseases, were selected in this study as immune response indicators, with reduced C4 indicating aggravated RT in children. The study results showed that children with RT had poorer immunity than those without RT, and so did their recovery of renal function, but the effect of mycophenolate mofetil was significant. In addition, there were no serious adverse reactions noted among all participants, indicating that the application of mycophenolate mofetil had higher safety.
In conclusion, recurrent rash, adenovirus infection, respiratory virus infection, D-dimer level, leukocyte level, and UA level are the risk factors of RT affecting severe HSP child patients, and mycophenolate mofetil can improve the renal function in children with HSP and enhance their immunity, which should be promoted in practice.
Acknowledgments
Funding: None.
Footnote
Reporting Checklist: The authors have completed the STROBE reporting checklist (available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tp-21-493).
Data Sharing Statement: Available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tp-21-493
Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21037/tp-21-493).The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013). The study was approved by ethics committee of Shengli Oilfield Central Hospital (approval No. 20181172) and individual consent for this retrospective analysis was waived.
Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
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(English Language Editor: J. Jones)