Mycophenolate mofetil in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus: Comment on the article by Hervier et al

Abstract

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article by Hervier et al (Hervier B, Beziat V, Haroche J, Mathian A, Lebon P, GhillaniDalbin P, et al. Phenotype and function of natural killer cells in systemic lupus erythematosus: excess interferonproduction in patients with active disease. Arthritis Rheum 2011;63: 1698–706). We would like to ask for an explanation on the following point. In the Patients and Methods section, the authors noted that “All but 5 patients received hydroxychloroquine (200 or 400 mg daily) and/or oral prednisone ( 0.5 mg/kg daily). A total of 15 patients received a stable dosage of mycophenolate mofetil (2 gm daily) for at least 3 months.” This suggests that there would be differences in treatment between the group with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the group with inactive SLE. We would like to know how the authors accounted for this. In addition, because the SLE patients studied by Hervier and colleagues were undergoing treatment, we wonder if “treatment impact” or similar language should have been added to the title of the article.