Table 3.

Alterations in SLEDAI and prednisone dose, mean MMF dose, and evolution of immunologic abnormalities in our patients. P values result from the paired Student t test or McNemar test comparing 6/12 months with baseline. Values are n (%) or mean ± SD unless otherwise specified.

Variables	Time	Nonrenal, n = 72	p	Renal, n = 105	p
SLEDAI-2K	Baseline	5.7 ± 4.4		13.8 ± 6.5
	6 mos	4.1 ± 4.1	< 0.005	9.6 ± 5.8	< 0.0001
	12 mos	4.5 ± 4.8		9.0 ± 6.2	< 0.0001
No. patients with a SLEDAI-2K decrease by 4	Baseline	0		0
	6 mos	15 (20.8)	< 0.05	37 (35.2)	< 0.001
	12 mos	13 (18.1)	< 0.05	42 (40)	< 0.001
No. of patients with a SLEDAI-2K increase by 4	Baseline	0		0
	6 mos	5 (6.9)		6 (5.7)
	12 mos	7 (9.7)	0.32	6 (5.7)	1
Clinical SLEDAI-2K, excluding immunological and hematological abnormalities	Baseline	4.8 ± 4.1		12.5 ± 6.2
	6 mos	3.4 ± 3.8	0.0072	8.6 ± 5.5	< 0.001
	12 mos	3.8 ± 4.7	0.1332	7.9 ± 5.9	< 0.001
No. patients who reduced prednisone dose	Baseline	0		0
	6 mos	33 (45.8)	< 0.001	66 (62.9)	< 0.0001
	12 mos	44 (61.1)	< 0.001	73 (69.5)	< 0.0001
No. patients who increased prednisone dose	Baseline	19 (26.4)		33 (31.4)
	6 mos	16 (22.2)	< 0.001	18 (17.1)	< 0.001
	12 mos	11 (15.3)	< 0.001	15 (14.3)	< 0.001
Average prednisone dose, mg/day	Baseline	18.4 ± 12.6		29.2 ± 16.6
	6 mos	15.6 ± 10.5	< 0.05	21.2 ± 12.4	< 0.005
	12 mos	12.1 ± 9.0	< 0.05	15.3 ± 9.7	< 0.005
MMF dose, mg/day	Baseline	1350 ± 712.5		1687.5 ± 1000
	6 mos	1512.5 ± 725		1625 ± 950
	12 mos	1662.5 ± 800		1687.5 ± 1000
Anti-dsDNA, Farr assay, +	Baseline	34 (47.2)		72 (69.9)
	6 mos	27 (38)		61 (58.1)	< 0.05
	12 mos	26 (36.1)		59 (57.3)	< 0.05
Low C3	Baseline	25 (34.7)		64 (60.9)
	6 mos	18 (25.0)	< 0.05	44 (41.9)	< 0.05
	12 mos	19 (26.4)	< 0.05	44 (42.3)	< 0.05
Low C4	Baseline	12 (16.7)		29 (27.6)
	6 mos	8 (11.1)	< 0.05	15 (14.3)	< 0.05
	12 mos	7 (9.7)	< 0.05	19 (18.3)	< 0.05

SLEDAI-2K: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000; MMF: mycophenolate mofetil; C3: complement factor 3; C4: complement factor 4.