A pilot study to determine the dose and effectiveness of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (H.P. Acthar® Gel) in nephrotic syndrome due to idiopathic membranous nephropathy

What Was Tested

Researchers studied ACTH (Corticotropin) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Acthar(®) Gel is currently the only Food and Drug Administration therapy approved for the treatment of nephrotic syndrome.

Active drug ingredients include structurally related melanocortin peptides that bind to cell surface G-protein-coupled receptors known as melanocortin receptors, which are expressed in glomerular podocytes.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Changes in proteinuria, albumin, cholesterol profile, estimated glomerular filtration rate and serum anti-PLA2R antibodies were assessed at baseline and in response to treatment along with tolerance and safety.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and pilot study.

Because people in this ACTH (Corticotropin) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger ACTH (Corticotropin) study would be practical.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Biopsy, Glomerular Filtration Rate, Glomerulonephritis, Membranous, Kidney, Nephrotic Syndrome and Pilot Projects.

Author keywords: ACTH (H.P. Acthar® Gel) and membranous nephropathy.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and pilot study of ACTH (Corticotropin).

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2014 (Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association), a journal based in England.

More context: the ACTH (Corticotropin) compound page, all human trials.