Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody following cimetidine treatment: a case report

Background: Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis usually induces rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, including pauci-immune necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis. Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (ATIN), which is often drug-induced, is a frequent cause of kidney injury. However, ATIN associated with ANCA without any glomerular lesions has been rarely reported, and drug-induced ATIN associated with ANCA is not well recognized. Here we present a case of an older woman with ATIN associated with myeloperoxidase-ANCA (MPO-ANCA) following cimetidine treatment.

Case presentation: A 70-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital due to acute kidney injury and mild proteinuria. She had a one-year history of chronic thyroiditis and dyslipidemia, for which she was taking levothyroxine sodium and atorvastatin, respectively. Two weeks before admission she had started cimetidine, methylmethionine sulfonium chloride, and itopride hydrochloride for gastric discomfort persistent since a month. She had experienced fatigue for two weeks and later appetite loss. The patient demonstrated a positive titer for MPO-ANCA (192 IU/mL) and a positive drug-induced lymphocyte stimulation test for cimetidine. She underwent two kidney biopsies that revealed ATIN without any glomerular lesions. Despite discontinuation of cimetidine on admission, renal injury continued with the presence of high MPO-ANCA titer. Oral steroid treatment was closely related with the recovery of her renal function and disappearance of MPO-ANCA.

Conclusions: In this case, ATIN presented as sustained renal insufficiency and high MPO-ANCA titer despite withdrawal of cimetidine. Therefore, we reason that the development of ANCA-associated ATIN was caused by cimetidine. Serologic follow-up with measurement of MPO-ANCA titers and renal biopsy are recommended when the clinical history is inconsistent with the relatively benign course of drug-induced ATIN.