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. 2015 Aug 20;2(1):e000105.
doi: 10.1136/lupus-2015-000105. eCollection 2015.

Characteristics of azathioprine use and cessation in a longitudinal lupus cohort

Lucy Croyle  1 , Alberta Hoi  1 , Eric F Morand  1
Affiliations

Characteristics of azathioprine use and cessation in a longitudinal lupus cohort

Lucy Croyle et al. Lupus Sci Med. .

Abstract

Objective: Guidelines for azathioprine (AZA) use in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), including indications for initiation and cessation, are lacking. Clinical decision-making could be improved if reasons for cessation of AZA treatment were standardised.

Methods: We determined the characteristics of AZA use in a cohort of patients with SLE and evaluated reasons for AZA cessation. Patients with SLE in a single centre had longitudinal recording of disease activity (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI)-2k), laboratory investigations and treatment from 2007 to 2012.

Results: Of 183 patients studied, 67 used AZA on at least one occasion. There was no significant difference between AZA users and non-users in age or American College of Rheumatology criteria. Compared with those not treated with AZA, patients treated with AZA had higher disease activity (time-adjusted mean SLEDAI 5.2±0.3 vs 3.8±0.3, p=0.0028) and damage (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC)-SDI 1.6±0.3 vs 1.2±0.1, p=0.0445), and were more likely to have a positive dsDNA (p=0.0130) and receive glucocorticoids (p<0.0001). AZA therapy was ceased in 30/67 (45%) patients. The predominant reasons for cessation were treatment de-escalation 14 (47%), treatment failure 12 (40%) and toxicity 3 (10%). AZA was switched to mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in 9/12 (75%) of treatment failures, and this choice was strongly associated with active lupus nephritis.

Conclusions: AZA toxicity was uncommon, and many patients ceased therapy in the context of treatment de-escalation. However, the frequent development of active lupus nephritis requiring MMF suggests the need to distinguish refractoriness, under-treatment and non-adherence to AZA in patients with SLE. These findings suggest that future studies of AZA metabolite measurement could prove valuable in the management of SLE.

Keywords: DMARDs (synthetic); Disease Activity; Systemic Lupus Erythematosus; Treatment.

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