An update on the use of mycophenolate mofetil in lupus nephritis and other primary glomerular diseases

Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) has been used successfully as an immunosuppressive medication in transplantation for over a decade. Owing to its efficacy and relatively benign adverse effect profile, its use has been investigated in the treatment of several glomerular diseases, as we describe in this Review. Of these, MMF has most extensively been studied in lupus nephritis. Randomized controlled trials have documented the value of MMF in both induction and maintenance therapy for severe lupus nephritis in several different geographic and ethnic populations, and have defined its potential toxicity. In minimal-change disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and membranous nephropathy, promising but limited data on MMF treatment exist from small retrospective and prospective studies. Ongoing, larger, prospective trials, such as the NIH trial in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, might clarify the value of MMF in the treatment of this disease. The efficacy of MMF in IgA nephropathy remains unclear, despite several small, controlled trials. Conflicting results might reflect differences in the disease process, differences in MMF metabolism, or varying responses to the immunosuppressive agent in different populations. Only through large, collaborative, controlled trials will the true role of MMF be defined for each glomerular disease.