Nephrotic syndrome is a common renal disorder in children characterized by proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia and edema. The long-term prognosis for steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome is excellent for resolution of disease and maintenance of renal function. About 80% patients with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome will relapse one or more times, requiring repeated treatment with corticosteroids. Of these, 50-60% show frequent relapses or steroid dependence and require therapy with long-term corticosteroids and other medications. Patients with multiple relapses are at risk for life-threatening infections, malnutrition and thrombotic episodes. They are also likely to show serious side effects of long-term steroid therapy and those related to use of other medications, including toxicity to bone marrow, gonads, central nervous system and kidneys. Repeated relapses also result in multiple hospitalizations and school absence. Strategies effective in reducing relapse rates and proportion of patients with frequent relapses or steroid dependence shall therefore be extremely valuable in improving the long-term management of nephrotic syndrome.

                  Based on information from multiple studies that prolonged duration of initial therapy beyond 8-weeks reduced the risk of an early relapse and lowered frequency of subsequent relapses, it is agreed upon that the initial therapy with prednisolone should continue for 12 weeks (3 months), administered daily for a duration of 6 weeks, and then on alternate days for another 6 weeks. However, the optimal dose and duration of corticosteroid therapy remains to be determined. Data from various prospective studies, systematically reviewed in the Cochrane Registry, suggests the beneficial effects of prolongation of treatment beyond 3 months, with benefit seen up to 6-months. However, the advantages of extending therapy from 3- to 6-months are not unambiguous; there are also concerns of the corticosteroid toxicity with the latter regimens. Recent placebo controlled trials reported in 2013, including from this center, suggest that extending initial prednisolone treatment from 3 months to 6 months, with or without an increase in cumulative dose, does not influence the course of disease in children with nephrotic syndrome. However, in the study conducted in India, we found that prolonged therapy was useful in postponing the first relapse, and was associated with an insignificantly decreased risk of frequent relapses, in the subgroup of children younger than 4 years. Since the subgroups were not defined a priori, a prospective study is required to clarify the efficacy of this intervention in young patients.

                  Further, the lack of clarity regarding disease pathogenesis makes the administration of corticosteroid therapies largely empirical. While clear insight into the pathogenic pathways targeted by prednisolone is lacking, there is some evidence that disease remission is associated with down regulation of T cell activation, altered B-T cell crosstalk, upregulation of T helper type 1(Th1) and/or T regulatory compartments.

                  This present study proposes to examine the benefits of prolongation of initial therapy of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome from the current standard of 3 to 6 months among children younger than 4-yr-old an onset of disease. Prolongation of treatment at the first episode would have considerable promise, if found effective in reducing future relapses and without concomitant risks of corticosteroid toxicity. The proposal also aims to examine the proportions of T and B lymphocyte subsets in 20 patients with the initial episode of nephrotic syndrome. The evaluation shall be conducted at onset of disease, following prednisolone induced disease remission, and at one year from randomization or at first relapse of the disease to determine differences in the immune profiles at different stages of the disease. Apart from improving our knowledge of pathogenesis of nephrotic syndrome, this approach shall enhance our understanding of the immunological alterations influenced by therapy.