Effect of antimalarial agents on the fasting lipid profile in systemic lupus erythematosus

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the relative effect of antimalarial (AM) agents on fasting lipid fractions in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: The study was cross sectional including all patients with SLE who were seen in our lupus clinic with fasting lipid profiles measured as part of evaluation from November 1995 to March 1999. RESULTS: A total of 123 patients with a mean age of 45.3 years and mean disease duration 13.4 years were studied; 73.2% were taking prednisone with a mean +/- SD dose of 10.9 +/- 9.2 mg/day, 48.0% were taking AM, and 30.8% were taking both. In the entire group, patients taking AM had a 12.5% lower total cholesterol (TC) (5.11 +/- 1.27 vs 5.84 +/- 1.23; p = 0.002), 22.1% lower very low density lipid-cholesterol (VLDL-C) (0.66 +/- 0.40 vs 0.85 +/- 0.39; p = 0.01), and 15.7% lower LDL-C (3.01 +/- 1.14 vs 3.58 +/- 1.10; p = 0.007). For patients taking prednisone, those taking concomitant AM (n = 38) had significantly lower TC (5.26 +/- 1.30 vs 5.99 +/- 1.29; p = 0.01), VLDL-C (0.65 +/- 0.39 vs 0.85 +/- 0.41; p = 0.02), and LDL-C (3.05 +/- 1.20 vs 3.69 +/- 1.09; p = 0.01) than those without AM (n = 48). For patients taking < or = 10 mg/day prednisone, TC (4.69 +/- 0.88 vs 5.74 +/- 1.20; p < 0.001), VLDL-C (0.61 +/- 0.37 vs 0.83 +/- 0.44; p = 0.05), and LDL-C (2.57 +/- 0.76 vs 3.49 +/- 1.04; p < 0.001) were still lower in patients with concomitant AM (n = 22) than those without AM (n = 36). CONCLUSION: TC, VLDL-C, and LDL-C levels were significantly lower in patients taking AM, including patients taking concomitant prednisone. Thus AM may have beneficial effects in SLE in addition to disease suppression.