Optimal use of corticosteroids in nephrology

Abstract

Abstract The usage of corticosteroids is widespread in nephrology both in the treatment of patients with native kidney diseases and of patients who have received a kidney transplant. In glomerular diseases, steroids are part of most immunosuppressive regimens applied nowadays, and only few steroid-free immunosuppressive regimens have been reported on. It is my hope that - with the introduction of more targeted therapies - corticosteroid dosage can be reduced or eliminated completely in the future. Although corticosteroids have been the mainstay in the immunosuppressive treatment of patients who received a kidney transplant, there has been a long-standing interest in steroid avoidance and withdrawal (SAW). However, there is an ongoing debate whether SAW can be considered to be the standard of care in kidney transplantation at this moment.