Biologic Therapeutic Agents in Nephrology

Authors

  • Roberta Fenoglio CMID, Centro di Ricerche di Immunopatologia e Documentazione su Malattie Rare (Centro di Coordinamento della Rete delle Malattie Rare del Piemonte e della Valle d'Aosta) e SCDU Nefrologia e Dialisi, Ospedale S. Giovanni Bosco e Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino
  • Dario Roccatello CMID, Centro di Ricerche di Immunopatologia e Documentazione su Malattie Rare (Centro di Coordinamento della Rete delle Malattie Rare del Piemonte e della Valle d'Aosta) e SCDU Nefrologia e Dialisi, Ospedale S. Giovanni Bosco e Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33393/gcnd.2015.831

Keywords:

Biologic drugs, Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, Rituximab, Therapy of glomerulonephritis

Abstract

Biological drugs represent one of the most important therapeutic novelties of the last twenty years in many areas including Nephrology. Their use was initially limited to the transplantation field, but now it is extended to the treatment of many glomerular diseases. The selectivity of these drugs should ensure a decrease in the side effects associated with conventional immunosuppressive therapy and an improvement in patient compliance. These aspects, together with the identification of previously unknown pathogenic mechanisms of many glomerular nephropathies, resulted in an increased use of biologic drugs even in kidney diseases. Rituximab was introduced in the mid '90s and it was the pioneering drug among biologic agents in Nephrology. Since then, clinincians have become more and more interested in this class of drugs, and the potential of these agents is on the rise. Currently unresolved issues include both safety and cost/benefit ratio of their long-term use. Undoubtedly, it is the most significant progress that has been made from a therapeutic point of view in recent years.