Lupus News

More than 200,000 people in the United States met the American College of Rheumatology criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus in 2018, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

The FDA has approved voclosporin as the first oral treatment for lupus nephritis in adult patients who are receiving background immunosuppressive therapy, according to a press release from Aurinia Pharmaceuticals.

The possible FDA approval of a drug targeting the interferon pathway in lupus is the culmination of decades of work by clinicians and researchers alike. Yet, given the bewildering complexity of both interferon and lupus, this moment is likely only the midpoint of a much longer narrative.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who adhere to antimalarial therapy have a 71% lower risk for death than those in nonadherence, and an 83% lower risk than those who discontinue, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

A mean hydroxychloroquine blood level of more than 1,068 ng/mL is associated with a 69% reduction in thrombotic events, compared with blood levels of less than 648 ng/mL, among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to data.

Baseline prednisone use is associated with an increased risk for poor outcomes among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who are tapering hydroxychloroquine, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Although the risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease has lowered, it is nonetheless still significant, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Prednisone in doses of 20 to 39 mg for more than 1 month, or 40 mg daily for just 1 month, remains the most important corticosteroid predictor of osteonecrosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to data.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is more severe among U.S. Asian populations compared with whites, with Filipino individuals in particular affected at “strikingly” young ages, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases and COVID-19 may be at greater risk for hospitalization, ICU admission, acute renal failure and venous thromboembolism, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.