Belimumab therapy for refractory immune thrombocytopenia in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with anti-phospholipid antibodies

Abstract

Objective To observe the effect of belimumab treatment in refractory anti-phospholipid antibody-associated immune thrombocytopenia with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Method Four SLE patients with refractory anti-phospholipid antibody-associated immune thrombocytopenia were included in this one-arm observational study. Inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of SLE according to 1997 American College of Rheumatology criteria, severe immune thrombocytopenia (platelets <30 × 109/L), no bleeding symptoms, lack of satisfactory response to traditional treatment, and high-titre anti-phospholipid antibodies. All patients received belimumab (Benlysta®) for 6 months. Results The mean platelet count was 21.8 × 109 cells/L, ranging between 16 and 29 × 109/L at baseline, 123.3 × 109/L at 1 month, and 172.5 × 109/L at the end of 6 months after belimumab treatment. No bleeding complications occurred during the entire follow-up period. Conclusion In this study, belimumab reduced the anti-phospholipid antibodies while increasing the platelet count in SLE patients with anti-phospholipid antibody-associated immune thrombocytopenia.