Patient and treatment characteristics.
| Characteristics | All Patients, N = 44 | Group 1, N = 18 | Group 2, N = 26 | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, median (range), yrs | 30 (15–56) | 28.5 (15–54) | 31.5 (17–56) | 0.333 |
| Male:female | 6:38 | 2:16 | 4:22 | 1.00 |
| SLE duration, median (range), mo | 42 (0–312) | 36.5 (1–173) | 46 (0–312) | 0.990 |
| Nephritis duration, median (range), mo | 17.5 (0–218) | 19.5 (1–168) | 11 (0–218) | 0.351 |
| WHO class, II; IV; V with III/IV lesions | 24; 11; 9 | 12; 3; 3 | 12; 8; 6 | 0.478 |
| Activity index | 4 (2–18) | 3.5 (2–8) | 4 (2–18) | 0.787 |
| Chronicity index | 2 (0–8) | 1 (0–6) | 2 (0–8) | 0.307 |
| Anti-dsDNA antibody (%) | 44 (100) | 18 (100) | 26 (100) | 1.00 |
| Anti-Ro antibody (%) | 2 (48) | 7 (30) | 14 (54) | 0.329 |
| Anti-La antibody (%) | 6 (14) | 4 (22) | 2 (8) | 0.208 |
| Anti-U1RNP antibody (%) | 8 (18) | 2 (11) | 6 (23) | 0.439 |
| Anti-Sm antibody (%) | 5 (11) | 2 (11) | 3 (12) | 1.00 |
| Antiphospholipid antibody (%) | 20 (45) | 11 (61) | 9 (35) | 0.103 |
| Low C3 at baseline, < 70 mg/dl (%) | 22/34 (65) | 7/13 (54) | 15/21 (71) | 0.462 |
| Low C4 at baseline, < 10 mg/dl (%) | 22/34 (65) | 8/13 (62) | 14/21 (67) | 1.00 |
| GFR at baseline, median (range), ml/min/1.73 m2 | 82 (21–137) | 76 (21–120) | 85 (24–137) | 0.377 |
| Urine protein levels at baseline, median (range), g/24 h | 1.3 (0.1–9) | 1.5 (0.2–7) | 1.2 (0.1–9) | 0.867 |
| ≥ 3 g/24h (%) | 12/38 (32) | 5/16 (31) | 7/22 (32) | 0.970 |
| Urine protein levels of nephrotic range, ≥ 3 g/24 h | 4 (3–9) | 3.5 (3.1–7) | 4 (3–9) | 0.935 |
| < 3 G/24 H (%) | 17/38 (45) | 8/16 (50) | 9/22 (41) | 0.578 |
| Urine protein levels of subnephrotic range (≥ 0.5 and < 3 g/24 h) | 1.1 (0.5–2.9) | 1.1 (0.5–2.1) | 1.1 (0.5–2.9) | 1.00 |
| Hematuria at baseline, > 5/hpf (%) | 30 (68) | 13 (72) | 17 (65) | 0.632 |
| Pyuria at baseline, > 5/hpf (%) | 23 (52) | 8 (44) | 15 (58) | 0.387 |
| Casts at baseline, > 1/hpf (%) | 9 (20) | 2 (11) | 7 (27) | 0.270 |
| Hypertension at baseline (%) | 5 (11) | 1 (6) | 4 (15) | 0.634 |
| ECLAM score at baseline, median (range) | 6.5 (2.5–12.5) | 6.5 (2.5–9) | 6.3 (3.5–12.5) | 0.672 |
| Treatment duration, median (range), mo | 38 (12–110 | 47 (28–110) | 30 (12–76) | 0.002 |
| Treatment duration on stable dose, median (range), mo | 30 (12–76) | 29 (12–60) | 30 (12–76) | 0.839 |
| MMF dose*, median (range), g/day | 2 (1.2–3) | 1.5 (1.2–2) | 2 (2–3) | < 0.001 |
| Oral corticosteroid dose**, median (range), mg/day | 5.7 (0–15.1) | 5 (1.9–9.3) | 6 (0–15.1) | 0.219 |
| Time to remission, months, median survival time | 4 | 8 | 4 | -/19-† |
| Time after remission on stable dose, median (range), mo | 21 (5–75) | 20 (5–55) | 24 (9–75) | 0.339 |
| Complete remission (%) | 32 (73) | 12 (67) | 20 (77) | 0.506 |
| Time to complete remission, months, median survival time | 8 | 9 | 8 | 0.857† |
| Time after complete remission on stable dose, median (range), mo | 18 (0–75) | 17 (4–40) | 19 (0–75) | 0.436 |
↵* Weighted average dose each patient received taking into consideration the time spent on each drug dosage during the whole followup.
↵** Average dose each patient received until the end of followup.
↵† Log-rank test. SLE: systemic lupus erythematosus; WHO: World Health Organization; GFR: glomerular filtration rate; hpf: high power field; ECLAM: European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement; MMF: mycophenolate mofetil.