Fu 2012a.

Study characteristics
Methods	Study design: parallel, open‐label RCT Study duration: not reported Duration of follow‐up: 36 months
Participants	Setting: not reported Country: China Inclusion criteria: biopsy‐proven IMN and nephritic syndrome; CD I & II; never had prednisolone or immunosuppression before Baseline characteristics Mean proteinuria ± SD (g/24 hours): treatment group (9.57 ± 8.94); control group (9.42 ± 2.86) Mean serum albumin ± SD (g/L): treatment group (23.4 ± 4.3); control group (23.5 ± 6.8) Mean eGFR ± SD (mL/min/1.73 m²): treatment group (95.7 ± 21.6); control group (96.1 ± 17.8) Mean SCr ± SD (µmol/L): treatment group (68.8 ± 20.2); control group (66.3 ± 15.7) Mean serum cholesterol ± SD (mmol/L): treatment group (8.47 ± 3.17); control group (8.38 ± 2.56) Disease‐course (time since diagnosis) at immunosuppressive treatment initiation: not reported Pathological classification: not reported Co‐morbidities: nephritic syndrome Number: treatment group (13); control group (13) Mean age ± SD (years): treatment group (43.1 ± 11.9); control group (42.7 ± 14.5) Sex (M/F): treatment group (9/4); control group (8/5) Exclusion criteria: secondary membranous nephropathy
Interventions	Treatment group MMF + prednisone for 36 months MMF: 2 g/day split into 2 doses. After 6 months reduced to 1.5g/day; after 18 months 1g/day; after 30 months reduced to 0.5 g/day until gradually stopped Prednisone: initial dose 1 mg/kg/day in the morning, then gradually decreased for 6 weeks afterwards tapering 5 mg/weeks until 10 to 20 mg/week as maintenance treatment Control group CPA + prednisone for 36 months CPA (IV): 1 g every month for 6 months, then every 3 months for 46 times Prednisone: initial dose 1 mg/kg/day in the morning, then gradually decreased Both groups If worsening of IMN, then the maintenance of dose for 3 months before beginning the reduction. Initial dose of prednisone was 1 mg/kg/day in the morning and then gradually decreased in both groups Co‐medications: not reported
Outcomes	24‐hour urine protein excretion Serum albumin SCr eGFR WCC Remission Leucopenia Abnormal liver enzymes Follow‐up at 3, 12, 24 and 36 months
Notes	Funding information/COI: authors reported no conflict of interest.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Insufficient information to permit judgement. Groups are very similar in baseline characteristics, unlikely by chance. indicating some form of matching
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Insufficient information to permit judgement
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Open‐label study
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Insufficient information to permit judgement
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No evidence of attrition bias. all patients completed course of the study
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	No evidence of selective reporting. comprehensive reporting on all outcomes
Other bias	Low risk	No evidence of other bias. authors declare no conflict of interest