Lupus

An initial median prednisone dose of 45 mg per day achieved significantly better complete renal response rates at 1 year in patients with new-onset lupus nephritis, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Twitter use revealed “early signals” of drug rationing and other critical behavior changes in patients with rheumatic diseases as they navigated the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data published in Rheumatology.

Just 41% of Medicaid beneficiaries with systemic lupus erythematosus receive hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine within 2 years of diagnosis, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Researchers have used machine learning to develop and validate a new model that can produce individualized risk probabilities for systemic lupus erythematosus, according to findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Several emerging therapies for lupus have shown promising results in the past year, with anifrolumab and obinutuzumab potentially attracting FDA attention, according to a speaker at the Basic and Clinical Immunology for the Busy Clinician symposium.

Physical inactivity confers a “greater than threefold increased risk” for developing depression within the next 2 years among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

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.