Association of low-dose glucocorticoid use and infection occurrence in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: a prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Infection is a major cause of mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Therefore, minimizing the risk of infection is an important clinical goal to improve the long-term prognosis of SLE patients. Treatment with ≥7.5 mg prednisolone (PSL) or equivalent has been reported to increase the risk of infections. However, it remains unclear whether <7.5 mg PSL or equivalent dose affects the risk of infection in SLE patients. This study evaluated the association between the occurrence of infection in patients with SLE and low-dose glucocorticoid (GC) usage, especially <7.5 mg PSL or equivalent, to explore the GC dose that could reduce infection occurrence.

Methods

This prospective cohort study included patients from the Japanese multicenter registry o

SUBMITTER: Abe K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9330647 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature