The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Infection Rates for Patients with SLE on Immunosuppressive Drugs

Infection Rates for Patients with SLE on Immunosuppressive Drugs

June 13, 2017 • By Catherine Kolonko

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF
Researchers are studying the incidence rate of infections with three different drugs used to treat SLE.

Researchers are studying the incidence rate of infections with three different drugs used to treat SLE.
Viacheslav Lopatin/shutterstock.com

A comparison study of the serious infection burden among patients with lupus found no major differences in patients treated with three separate immunosuppressive drug regimens.

You Might Also Like
  • Infection & Hospitalization in SLE
  • Cardiovascular Disease Rate Differs Between SLE Patients of Different Races, Ethnicities
  • Immunosuppressive Treatment for Lupus in the Next Decade
Explore This Issue
June 2017
Also By This Author
  • Pediatric Rheumatologists Increasing in Number but Still Rare

Given that serious infections are among the leading causes of hospitalizations and death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), researchers investigated whether the incident rates differed in patients who recently began drug therapy with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), azathioprine (AZA) or cyclophosphamide (CYC). Results were published recently in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology.1

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

“These medications are all used to treat a number of manifestations of lupus, most commonly lupus nephritis,” lead author Candace Feldman, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School in Boston, and associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, tells The Rheumatologist.

The three drugs are often interchangeable in the treatment of SLE. Mofetil and AZA frequently are prescribed for maintenance of remission among patients who have lupus nephritis; while for induction of remission, studies have shown minimal differences between use of MMF and CYC, she says.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The Study

In this longitudinal cohort study, researchers examined records from 2000 to 2010 of more than 100,000 patients with SLE from the Medicaid database to further analyze outcomes of those who had started one of the three treatments. They aimed to address a lack of head-to-head studies of comparative infection rates associated with these commonly prescribed immunosuppressive medications.

The authors note these data are needed to help inform treatment choices for patients.

“In this population of Medicaid beneficiaries, we found a very high burden of serious infections, which we’ve also shown in prior studies,” Dr. Feldman says. “A number of studies have shown that this population is particularly vulnerable and has an increased risk of comorbidities and poor outcomes.”

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The large national study covered results up to 12 months and was designed to compare one drug with another to determine whether there were differences of serious infections between the two. One cohort of patients compared MMF with AZA and the other compared MMF with CYC.

“The reason we did these in two separate groups instead of one group comparing all three is because it tends to be a sicker group of patients with more active lupus who you would be thinking about the interchangeable use of mycophenolate mofetil and cyclophosphamide and a less sick group that you would be thinking about for mycophenolate mofetil vs. azathioprine,” Dr. Feldman says. Thus, the team conducted two separate analyses.

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, SLE (Lupus) Tagged With: azathioprine, Clinical, cyclophosphamide, immunosuppressive drugs, Infection, mycophenolate mofetil, outcome, patient care, Rheumatic Disease, rheumatologist, rheumatology, SLE, Systemic lupus erythematosusIssue: June 2017

You Might Also Like:
  • Infection & Hospitalization in SLE
  • Cardiovascular Disease Rate Differs Between SLE Patients of Different Races, Ethnicities
  • Immunosuppressive Treatment for Lupus in the Next Decade
  • Racial Disparities Result in Unprecedented Differences in Outcomes for SLE Patients

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2022 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)