Characteristics of patients at start of study in responders and nonresponders. Start of study is onset of proteinuria. Responders are patients with < 0.5 g/day of proteinuria at last visit and nonresponders are patients with ≥ 0.5 g/day of proteinuria. Results for nominal data are n (%), and for continuous data, mean ± SD.
| Variables | Responders, n = 128 | Nonresponders, n = 84 | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex (F) | 111 (86.7) | 67 (79.8) | 0.18 |
| Age at SLE diagnosis, yrs | 28.6 ± 12.4 | 28.4 ± 13.2 | 0.94 |
| Age, yrs | 33.8 ± 11.6 | 34.7 ± 13.6 | 0.62 |
| Disease duration, yrs | 5.2 ± 6.1 | 6.2 ± 6.8 | 0.27 |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White | 79 (61.7) | 44 (52.4) | |
| Black | 23 (18.0) | 13 (15.5) | 0.18 |
| Asian | 17 (13.3) | 14 (16.7) | |
| Others | 9 (7.0) | 13 (15.5) | |
| Length of followup period, yrs (from study start to recovery or last clinic visit) | 2.0 ± 2.1 | 2.7 ± 3.3 | 0.08 |
| SLEDAI at baseline | 17.3 ± 7.4 | 16.7 ± 5.7 | 0.51 |
| SLEDAI at end of study | 4.6 ± 3.7 | 13.0 ± 7.9 | < 0.0001 |
| BMI | (n = 74) 25.2 ± 5.6 | (n = 45) 26.0 ± 6.1 | 0.47 |
| Systolic, mmHg | 134.0 ± 23.0 | 129.3 ± 21.5 | 0.16 |
| > 140 mmHg | 34 (27.4) | 20 (24.1) | 0.59 |
| Diastolic, mmHg | 83.3 ± 15.1 | 81.0 ± 13.1 | 0.27 |
| > 90 mmHg | 27 (21.8) | 15 (18.1) | 0.52 |
| Hypertensive patients* | 73 (57.0) | 44 (53.0) | 0.57 |
| Serum creatinine at baseline | 101.8 ± 55.4 | 101.9 ± 62.0 | 0.99 |
| > 140 μmol/l | 23 (18.0) | 11 (13.1) | 0.34 |
| Serum creatinine at last visit | 101.0 ± 66.0 | 160.2 ± 144.9 | 0.0008 |
| > 140 μmol/l | 20 (16.0) | 24 (29.6) | 0.02 |
| eGFR at baseline | 78.7 ± 34.3 | 81.8 ± 37.5 | 0.53 |
| > 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 | 88 (68.8) | 57 (67.9) | 0.89 |
| eGFR at last visit | 80.0 ± 33.2 | 64.8 ± 38.6 | 0.003 |
| > 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 | 92 (74.2) | 42 (51.9) | 0.001 |
| Cholesterol | 6.48 ± 2.25 | 6.39 ± 2.35 | 0.78 |
| > 5.2 mmol/l | 85 (68.6) | 50 (62.5) | 0.37 |
| ESR, mm/h | (n = 97) 38.0 ± 27.6 | (n = 69) 50.9 ± 34.0 | 0.008 |
| > 13 male or > 20 female | 65 (97.0) | 56 (81.2) | 0.04 |
| HsCRP | (n = 48) 4.59 ± 7.82 | (n = 33) 2.88 ± 4.17 | 0.21 |
| > 3.0 mg/l | 18 (37.5) | 9 (27.3) | 0.34 |
| Albumin | 32.6 ± 7.13 | 33.1 ± 7.65 | 0.61 |
| < 35 g/l | 52 (41.3) | 36 (43.4) | 0.76 |
| DNA, Farr assay | 41.0 ± 38.1 | 50.8 ± 40.8 | 0.09 |
| > 7 U/ml | 77 (62.6) | 55 (73.3) | 0.12 |
| C3 | 0.78 ± 0.35 | 0.72 ± 0.44 | 0.32 |
| 0.9–1.8** g/l | 73 (57.5) | 58 (69.9) | 0.07 |
| C4 | 0.17 ± 0.12 | 0.13 ± 0.10 | 0.02 |
| 0.1–0.4** g/l | 45 (36.3) | 47 (61.0) | 0.0006 |
| Steroids therapy after study start | |||
| In 1 yr | 126 (98.4) | 82 (97.6) | 0.65 |
| In 2 yrs | 126 (98.4) | 82 (97.6) | 0.65 |
| Antimalarials therapy after study start | |||
| In 1 yr | 63 (49.2) | 44 (52.4) | 0.65 |
| In 2 yrs | 72 (56.3) | 44 (52.4) | 0.58 |
| Immunosuppressive therapy after study start | |||
| In 1 yr | 108 (84.3) | 63 (75.0) | 0.09 |
| In 2 yrs | 112 (87.5) | 67 (79.8) | 0.13 |
↵* Hypertensive patients have documented high blood pressure or are taking antihypertensive drugs.
↵** Low C3 and C4 established by testing laboratory on the basis of range of normal set at the time of clinic visit. SLE: systemic lupus erythematosus; SLEDAI: SLE Disease Activity Index; BMI: body mass index; eGFR: estimated glomerular filtration rate; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate HsCRP: high-density C-reactive protein.