A Dose Escalation Study of Long-acting ACTH Gel in Membranous Nephropathy
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2013-02-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Membranous Nephropathy (MN) is an immune-mediated kidney disease that affects the glomerulus
or the filter that removes toxins from the blood. Damage to the membrane that separates blood
from urine results in loss of protein into the urine (proteinuria) and in some cases loss of
kidney function.There is no standard specific treatment for MN.
ACTH has a pronounced lipid-lowering effect in healthy individuals, in steroid-treated
patients with renal disease and in hemodialysis patients Some studies suggest that prolonged
synthetic ACTH therapy may represent an effective therapy in patients with idiopathic MN,
more extensive randomized studies with longer follow-up are needed before therapeutic
recommendations can be made.
We propose to do a pilot study to test the hypothesis that biologic ACTH, a slow-release
formulation of corticotropin extracted from porcine pituitary glands (H.P. Acthar gel) will
be effective in reducing proteinuria and improving lipid profile in patients with idiopathic
MN.