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Hydroxychloroquine blood levels predicts flare in childhood-onset lupus nephritis

Objective Low hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) blood levels are predictors of flare in adult lupus. Childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) has high morbidity with renal involvement in up to 80% of cases. The aim of this study is to determine the HCQ cut-off levels which predicts flare in childhood-onset lupus nephritis (LN). Methods Sixty LN patients on HCQ use for at least 6-months were prospectively evaluated at baseline (BL) and about 6-months later for cSLE flare and HCQ blood levels (ng/mL) measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results There were 19 patients (32%) with flare, during the study with median SLEDAI increase of 4 (0–8). Median (IQR) BL HCQ levels of the flare group were lower compared to stable patients [557.5 (68.6–980.3) vs. 1061.9 (534.8–1590.0 ng/mL); p=0.012]. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that HCQ levels≤1075 ng/mL were associated with a 5.08 (95%CI 1.28-20.13; p=0.021) times increased risk of flare. Six-month HCQ levels revealed that most patients 24/54 (44%) had persistently low levels (≤1075) during follow-up. Among those, 11/24 (46%) had flare. Multiple logistic regression analysis including prednisone use, baseline SLEDAI-2K, adherence based on pharmacy refill and BL HCQ blood levels as possible predictors of flare revealed that only HCQ blood level was independently associated with flare (OR 0.999, 95%CI 0.998-1.0, p=0.013). Conclusions We demonstrated that HCQ blood cut-off level under 1075 ng/mL predicts flare in childhood-onset LN patients under prescribed HCQ dose of 4.0–5.5 mg/kg/day. We further observed that most of these patients have compliance issues reinforcing the need for a close surveillance particularly in those with levels below the defined cut-off.