Faizan Shaukat
1, Liliya Russinova
2, Bagzhan Seizhanova
2, Assel Rakhmetova
3*1 Department of Medicine, Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan
2 Department of Internal Medicine, Kazakh National Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
3 Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Canada
Abstract
Studies have demonstrated that male systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients present
with atypical manifestations, serious kidney involvement and worse prognosis. This
article summarizes the findings obtained from the literature review of 16 studies to obtain
an understanding of the gender correlation with SLE and lupus nephritis. We compared
the influence of gender on various factors of SLE like incidence of lupus nephritis, age at
manifestation of SLE, time between SLE manifestation and lupus nephritis diagnosis, frequency
of dialysis, mortality risk and biopsy findings. Studies included in our review composed of
remote published work, case-control studies, case reports and cross-sectional studies. Of 16
studies, 14 were conducted exclusively on lupus nephritis in SLE with comparison of gender
correlation and remaining 2 studied SLE generally without any gender comparison. Six studies
pointed to an increase in incidence of lupus nephritis in males, 9 studies demonstrated no
disparity in gender, and one study showed contradicting results. In addition, 4 studies pointed
that males had a more severe renal outcome as revealed by laboratory tests. Interestingly the
age at which SLE manifests was the same in both genders according to 2 studies. Moreover,
the frequency of dialysis and remission were similar between both genders. There is no
consensus if these atypical manifestations are more common in males. Although some studies
do show a significant increase in lupus nephritis among male SLE patients, others showed no
difference or contradicting results. Hence, we suggest further studies comparing the disease
manifestations.
Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education:
Although some studies showed a significant increase in lupus nephritis among male systemic lupus erythematosus patients,
others showed no difference or contradicting results. Hence, we suggest further studies comparing the disease manifestations
between the two genders.
Please cite this paper as: Shaukat F, Russinova L, Seizhanova B, Rakhmetova A. Lupus nephritis in males; updates to current
knowledge. J Nephropharmacol. 2019;8(1):e09. DOI: 10.15171/npj.2019.09