Advancing IgA Nephropathy Care: Emerging Therapies, Unmet Needs, and Economic Considerations

Panelists discuss how immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy represents a complex glomerular disease characterized by IgA deposition in the mesangium, with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations ranging from benign hematuria to progressive kidney failure requiring comprehensive management strategies.

Panelists discuss how immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy develops through a complex 4-hit cascade involving aberrant IgA1 glycosylation, anti-glycan antibody formation, immune complex deposition, and inflammatory kidney damage.

Panelists discuss how immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy diagnosis requires kidney biopsy with immunofluorescence showing dominant or codominant IgA deposits in the mesangium, often accompanied by C3 and sometimes IgG or IgM.

Panelists discuss how patients with immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy typically present with microscopic or gross hematuria, often during upper respiratory infections, along with variable proteinuria and sometimes hypertension or decreased kidney function.

Panelists discuss how diagnostic challenges in immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy lead to delayed identification, missed treatment windows, and increased risk of irreversible kidney damage due to the requirement for invasive biopsy, nonspecific symptoms, and variable disease presentation.

Panelists discuss how immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy significantly impacts patients’ quality of life through chronic symptoms, treatment burden, psychological effects, and the looming threat of progressive kidney function decline.

Panelists discuss how immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy treatment has evolved to include supportive care with optimized blood pressure control and renin-angiotensin system blockade as first-line therapy, with increasingly targeted immunomodulatory approaches for higher-risk patients showing persistent proteinuria.