Literature Highlights - August 2023
AURORA 2, Voclosporin, Lupus Nephritis, BLISS-LN, Belimumab
Find coverage of the latest original articles on Lupus, focusing on those with data on therapeutic interventions and those that have clinical impact.
This activity is supported by an educational grant from AstraZeneca.
AURORA 2, Voclosporin, Lupus Nephritis, BLISS-LN, Belimumab
Arthritis Rheumatol. 2023 doi: 10.1002/art.42557. Epub ahead of print.
This phase II study of BI 655064 in patients with active LN did not meet the primary endpoint of CRR at Week 52, however, post-hoc analyses suggest a potential benefit of BI 655064 180 mg in patients with active LN.
Ann Rheum Dis 2023 doi 10.1136/ard-2022-223808 Epub ahead of print
Choi, et al. used machine clustering techniques to divide SLE patients into four distinct clusters. This could potentially be used to predict future clinical outcomes, and as benchmarks to study other SLE-related outcomes.
Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2023 doi: 10.1002/acr.25090. Epub ahead of print
First study to assess the long-term economic burden of neurologic and/or psychiatric (NP) lupus in an international, multi-ethnic inception cohort, concludes that patients with new/ongoing SLE or non-SLE NP events incurred higher direct and indirect costs.
N Engl J Med. 2022;387(10):894–904 doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2118025
Phase 2 study, in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, shows that litifilimab is associated with a greater reduction from baseline in the number of swollen and tender joints than placebo, over a period of 24 weeks.
N Engl J Med. 2022;387(4):321–331 doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2118024
Phase II study, in patients with active cutaneous lupus erythematosus, shows that litifilimab improved scores on a measure of skin disease activity, over 16 weeks, compared to placebo.
Ann Rheum Dis. 2022. Epub ahead of print doi: 10.1136/ard-2022-222487.
Large multinational, multiethnic cohort, study highlights the importance of treating-to-target in SLE.
Ann Rheum Dis. 2021:annrheumdis-2021-221295. Epub ahead of print
Evidence suggests that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) reduction/withdrawal may be safe in some stable patients, but in other settings it may be associated with disease flare. Almeida-Brasil, et al. sought to evaluate SLE flares following HCQ reduction or discontinuation versus HCQ maintenance. Their data suggest that maintaining HCQ was associated with a lower flare risk than reduction or discontinuation, even in patients with low disease activity or remission.
Kidney Int 2019;95:219–31
Calcineurin inhibitors have the potential to increase the likelihood of complete renal remission (CRR) when added to standard-of-care induction therapy for LN.