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[Preprint]. 2024 Jan 3:rs.3.rs-3777774.
doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3777774/v1.

Relationship of ultraviolet light exposure and cutaneous and systemic disease activity in youth with childhood-onset systemic lupus: Results from the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance Registry

Tamara I Tanner  1 , Ilir Agalliu  1 , Dawn M Wahezi  1 , Tamar Rubinstein  2 ; CARRA Registry Investigators
Affiliations

Relationship of ultraviolet light exposure and cutaneous and systemic disease activity in youth with childhood-onset systemic lupus: Results from the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance Registry

Tamara I Tanner et al. Res Sq. .

Update in

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between sun exposure measured by ultraviolet light index (UVI) and seasonality with rash and systemic disease activity in youth with childhood-onset systemic lupus (cSLE) from the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Registry.

Methods: We reviewed data on rash and disease activity from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) scores from cSLE CARRA Registry participants with visits between 2010 and 2019 and obtained UVI data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Our main exposures were UVI and season during the month of visit and one month prior to visit. We used mixed-effects logistic regression to examine an association between UVI/season and rash / SLEDAI-2K score, adjusting for age, sex, race and income.

Results: Among 1222 participants, with a mean of 2.3 visits/participant, 437 visits (15%) had rash and 860 (30%) had SLEDAI-2K score ≥ 5. There were no associations between UVI during the month prior to visit, or the month of the visit and odds of rash or elevated systemic activity. However, fall season was associated with increased odds of rash (OR = 1.59, p = 0.04), but there not increased disease activity.

Conclusion: While we found no association between UVI and rash or UVI and disease activity, further studies directly measuring UVI may help further understand whether a relationship exists between sun exposure and SLE disease activity and whether this is an area that continues to require clinical attention.

Keywords: Childhood-onset lupus; Cutaneous lupus; Environmental exposure; Lupus; Pediatric; Ultraviolet.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. Flowchart of study sample from CARRA Registry cSLE participants (legacy and new)
Figure 2:
Figure 2:. Seasonal distribution of systemic lupus disease activity and rash in CARRA Registry cSLE participants
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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