Clinical efficacy of tacrolimus in systemic lupus erythematosus with various manifestations: a real-world study

• Published in: Chinese medical journal Vol. 135; no. 18; pp. 2245 - 2247
• Main Authors: Bai, Wei, Li, Mengtao, Zhou, Shuang, Peng, Liying, Zhao, Jiuliang, Tian, Xinping, Wang, Qian, Leng, Xiaomei, Zhang, Shangzhu, Wang, Yanhong, Zhao, Yan, Zeng, Xiaofeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 20.09.2022; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies; Wolters Kluwer
• Subjects: Arthritis; Cardiac catheterization; Humans; Hypertension; Immunosuppressive agents; Immunosuppressive Agents - therapeutic use; Intubation; Lupus; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic - drug therapy; Proteins; Pulmonary arteries; Remission (Medicine); Tacrolimus - therapeutic use; Thrombocytopenia; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0366-6999; 2542-5641; 2542-5641
• DOI: 10.1097/CM9.0000000000002302

Based on the Chinese SLE Treatment and Research group registry,[3] SLE patients who fulfill the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics classification criteria and with a Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) ≥2 were included from March 2016 to March 2020 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. According to the European consensus criteria, SLE remission was defined as a clinical SLEDAI-2K = 0 and PGA <0.5, with prednisolone (or equivalent) ≤5 mg daily. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was defined as a resting mean pulmonary artery pressure >25 mmHg assessed by right heart catheterization, in the presence of normal pulmonary capillary wedge pressure <15 mmHg and pulmonary vascular resistance >3 Wood units, or a resting systolic pulmonary artery pressure >40 mmHg estimated by transthoracic echocardiography. According to our study, tacrolimus combined with or without vasodilator therapy might improve not only the SLEDAI-2K score but also the heart function of patients with SLE-PAH.