REVIEW article
Front. Nephrol.
Sec. Clinical Research in Nephrology
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneph.2025.1615239
Lupus Nephritis and Pregnancy: Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Management
Provisionally accepted
- Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
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Pregnancy is an altered immunologic state in which hormonal changes affect the immune system to enable maternal tolerance of the fetus. These hormonal and immunologic changes may influence systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity. Managing lupus nephritis in pregnancy presents diagnostic and therapeutic challenges for healthcare providers. Pregnancy induces a series of physiological changes in the immune system and kidneys, increasing the risk of disease flare and adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, such as preeclampsia, fetal loss, and preterm delivery. Kidney biopsy can be risky due to the high risk of complications and should be considered if its results would influence management. The risks associated with kidney biopsy are relatively low in early pregnancy. Pregnancy should be planned during periods of well-controlled lupus nephritis. The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine should be continued, and the only permitted immunosuppressive drugs are azathioprine and tacrolimus. Preconception preparation could prevent maternal-fetal complications.
Keywords: Kidney biopsy, Hydroxychloroquine, Immunosuppressants, Preeclampsia, Lupus Nephritis
Received: 21 Apr 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mbengue, tshabayembi, senoussi and niang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mansour Mbengue, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
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