Study design and patients
We retrospectively recruited children diagnosed with AAN between
November 2015 and November 2020 in the Department of Nephrology at
Children’s Hospital of Fudan University. Subjects were excluded if any
of following were present: much missing data, severe liver damage or
autoimmune diseases. All patients received a dose of MMF
10~15 mg/kg twice daily as induction or maintenance
therapy of their underlying disease, including dispersible tables
(Huadong Medicine, Hangzhou, China), capsules (Roche, Basel,
Switzerland) and EC-MPS (Novartis, Basel, Switzerland). Prednisolone was
initiated at a daily dose of 1~2 mg/kg/d. The protocol
of dose adjustment varied according to patient’s clinical status. This
study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee from Children’s
Hospital of Fudan University (No. 2020-486) and was conducted in
accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was waived
for this noninterventional retrospective study. The follow-up period was
part of routine clinical care until death, loss and last inpatient
visit.