Table 1.

Inclusion and exclusion trial criteria for patients

Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria
-Written and informed consent will be obtained. -Age 18–65 years	-Secondary membranous nephropathy (e.g., hepatitis B, SLE, medications, malignancies, etc.)
-Urinary protein excretion persistently exceeds 3.5 g/d, serum albumin < 30 g/L) after 6 months of antiproteinuric therapy with ACEI/ARB -IMN diagnosed by renal biopsy	-Positive HBV serological indexes (HBsAg or/and HBeAg or HBcAb), positive HCV or patients with abnormal liver function (ALT, AST, or bilirubin show an increase two times higher than the upper limit of normal range for more than 2 weeks)
-Serum creatinine < 133umol/L	-Diagnosis of diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (2 h post-prandial plasma glucose 7.8–11 mmol/L)
-No immunosuppressive treatment in the previous 6 months	-Have a definite history of peptic ulcer and/or gastrointestinal bleeding within the preceding 6 months -With congenital or acquired immunodeficiency, or with infections such as active tuberculosis and active CMV, or with severe infections requiring intravenous antibiotic therapy -With other serious physical or mental illness -With congenital heart disease, arrhythmia, heart failure and other serious cardiovascular diseases -Pregnancy or inadequate contraception -Have participated in other clinical trials within three months prior to enrollment