May 2022

Anifrolumab efficacy and safety by type I interferon gene signature and clinical subgroups in patients with SLE: post hoc analysis of pooled data from two phase III trials

Ann Rheum Dis. 2022; 0:1–11. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221425

IFN-I signalling plays a key role in SLE pathogenesis, and anifrolumab has demonstrated inhibitory effects on IFN-I signalling in patients with SLE. Vital, et al. characterised efficacy and safety of anifrolumab in patients with moderate-to-severe SLE based on interferon gene signature, demographic and clinical subgroups using data pooled from the Phase III TULIP-1 and -2 trials.

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Efficacy and Safety of Obinutuzumab in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients with Secondary Non-response to Rituximab

Rheumatology 2022;00:1–5 DOI.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keac150

Arnold, et al. present the first case series reporting the efficacy and safety of obinutuzumab in patients with treatment refractory SLE. The results indicate that, for this group of patients with limited treatment approaches, obinutuzumab could be a potential option.

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March 2022

Long-Term Results of Triple Immunosuppression With Tacrolimus Added to Mycophenolate and Corticosteroids in the Treatment of Lupus Nephritis

Kidney Int Rep. 2021;7(3):516–25

Analysis of 22 patients with lupus nephritis (LN) demonstrates that triple immunosuppression with the addition of tacrolimus to mycophenolate and prednisolone results in further proteinuria reduction.

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Phase II randomised trial of type I interferon inhibitor anifrolumab in patients with active lupus nephritis

Ann Rheum Dis. 2022;81(4):496–506 doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221478

Despite not meeting the primary endpoint, this Phase II trial of anifrolumab in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN) demonstrates that anifrolumab IR is associated with numerical improvements over placebo across endpoints – including complete renal response – in patients with active LN.

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Easy-BILAG: a new tool for simplified recording of SLE disease activity using BILAG-2004 index

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab883

Easy-BILAG is a high-accuracy, time-efficient tool for recording BILAG-2004 disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Disease activity measurements in SLE are necessary for optimal patient care, treat-to-target approaches and clinical guidelines. However, administrative burden and potential frequency of errors with the current comprehensive disease activity instrument (BILAG-2004) limits its use in routine practice.

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