Lupus NephritisSymptoms, Doctors, Treatments, Advances & More
Learn About Lupus Nephritis
Lupus nephritis, which is a kidney disorder, is a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus.
Nephritis - lupus; Lupus glomerular disease
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, or lupus) is an autoimmune disease. This means there is a problem with the body's immune system.
Normally, the immune system helps protect the body from infection or harmful substances. But in people with an autoimmune disease, the immune system cannot tell the difference between harmful substances and healthy ones. As a result, the immune system attacks otherwise healthy cells and tissues.
SLE may damage different parts of the kidney. This can lead to disorders such as:
- Focal or diffuse proliferative disease
- Interstitial nephritis
- Nephrotic syndrome
- Membranous glomerulonephritis
- Kidney failure
Symptoms of lupus nephritis include:
- Blood in the urine
- Foamy appearance to urine
- Swelling (edema) of any area of the body
- High blood pressure
The goal of treatment is to improve kidney function and to delay kidney failure.
Medicines may include some that suppress the immune system, such as corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil, or azathioprine.
You may need dialysis to control symptoms of kidney failure, sometimes for only a while. A kidney transplant may be recommended. People with active lupus should not have a transplant because the condition can occur in the transplanted kidney.
Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center
Michelle Petri, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She attended medical school at Harvard University and fulfilled her internal medicine residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition, she completed two fellowship programs at the University of California, San Francisco in allergy and immunology and rheumatology. Dr. Petri is the Director of the Hopkins Lupus Cohort, a longitudinal study of morbidity and mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus, and Co-Director of the Hopkins Lupus Pregnancy Center. Dr. Petri is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Lupus Nephritis. She is also highly rated in 10 other conditions, according to our data. Her clinical expertise encompasses Lupus Nephritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (CLE), Tenotomy, and Osteotomy. Dr. Petri is board certified in American Board Of Internal Medicine and American Board Of Allergy And Immunology.
Northwell Health Physician Partners Rheumatology At Great Neck
Richard Furie is a Rheumatologist practicing medicine in Great Neck, New York. Dr. Furie is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Lupus Nephritis. He is also highly rated in 8 other conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Lupus Nephritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (CLE), and Discoid Lupus Erythematosus (DLE). Dr. Furie is board certified in American Board Of Internal Medicine and American Board Of Internal Medicine/Rheumatology.
Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center
Andrea Fava is a Rheumatologist practicing medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Fava is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Lupus Nephritis. He is also highly rated in 4 other conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Lupus Nephritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Scleroderma, and Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). Dr. Fava is board certified in American Board Of Internal Medicine.
How well you do depends on the specific form of lupus nephritis. You may have flare-ups, and then times when you do not have any symptoms.
Some people with this condition develop long-term (chronic) kidney failure.
Although lupus nephritis may return in a transplanted kidney, it rarely leads to end-stage kidney disease.
Complications that may result from lupus nephritis include:
- Acute renal failure
- Chronic renal failure
Contact your provider if you have blood in your urine or swelling of your body.
If you have lupus nephritis, contact your provider if you notice decreased urine output.
Treating lupus may help prevent or delay onset of lupus nephritis.
Summary: The purpose of the registry and biorepository is to provide a mechanism to store clinical data, linked biospecimens and molecular data to support the conduct of future research on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), including Lupus Nephritis (LN).
Summary: This study is researching a particular group of experimental drugs administered for a short period in the treatment of patients with Lupus Nephritis (LN). The main aim of the current study is to see how safe and tolerable the study drugs are in a long-term follow-up. This is a main study, called an umbrella study, which includes several independent smaller sub-studies. Each of these smaller main s...
Published Date: September 02, 2025
Published By: Walead Latif, MD, Nephrologist and Clinical Associate Professor, Rutgers Medical School, Newark, NJ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
Sammaritano LR, Askanase A, Bermas BL, et al. 2024 American College of Rheumatology guideline for the screening, treatment, and management of lupus nephritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2025;77(9):1045-1065. PMID: 40331662 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40331662/.
Malvar A, Alberton V, Rovin BH. Lupus nephritis. In: Johnson RJ, Floege J, Tonelli M, eds. Comprehensive Clinical Nephrology. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2024:chap 27.
Radhakrishnan J, Stokes MB. Glomerular disorders and nephrotic syndromes. In: Goldman L, Cooney KA, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 27th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2024:chap 107.