Efficacy and safety of telitacicept, a BLyS/APRIL dual inhibitor, in the treatment of IgA nephropathy: a retrospective case-control study

Background Telitacicept, a BLyS/APRIL dual-target fusion protein, has recently been used in autoimmune diseases. We assessed Telitacicept’ s efficacy and safety in IgA nephropathy (IgAN) patients. Methods This study included 42 IgAN patients who received Telitacicept treatment, forming the ‘whole Telitacicept group’. Among them, 20 patients who had not previously received corticosteroid (CS) therapy or immunosuppressive (IS) agents were categorized as the ‘newly treated Telitacicept subgroup’. Additionally, 28 patients who were selected to match historical controls received conventional IS (CS therapy with/without IS agents) therapy and were classified as the ‘conventional IS group’. Telitacicept was partially used in combination with conventional IS, including initial CS in different doses. Various indicators were compared at 4-week intervals up to 24 weeks among the three groups. Results After 24 weeks of treatment, the 24-hour proteinuria decreased from 1.70 [interquartile range (IQR), 1.05–2.58]g to 0.21 (0.39–0.13) g (P = 0.043) in the newly treated Telitacicept subgroup, from 1.78 (0.97–2.82) g to 0.44 (1.48–0.16) g (P = 0.001) in the conventional IS group, and from 1.07 (0.66–1.99) g to 0.26 (0.59–0.17) g (P = 0.028) in the whole Telitacicept group. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) increased from (76.58 ± 30.26) ml/min/1.73m2 to (80.30 ± 26.76) ml/min/1.73m2 (P = 0.016) in the newly treated Telitacicept subgroup, from (72.73 ± 33.41) ml/min/1.73m2 to (84.08.10 ± 26.81) ml/min/1.73m2 (P = 0.011) in the conventional IS group, and from (70.10 ± 32.88) ml/min/1.73m2 to (71.21 ± 31.49) ml/min/1.73m2 (P = 0.065) in the whole Telitacicept group. During follow-up periods, the efficacy rates of the three groups did not show statistically significant differences, and no serious adverse events (SAEs) were observed. Conclusions Telitacicept may be a safe and effective treatment for IgAN, offering similar reductions in proteinuria and increases in eGFR as conventional IS therapy. After a 24-week follow-up, the incidence of adverse events (AEs) was lower for Telitacicept than for conventional IS therapy.