Observational studyLupus science & medicine2025
Hydroxychloroquine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: how much is enough?
Observational study in Lupus science & medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Long-term outcomes of hydroxychloroquine dose reduction in Puerto Ricans with systemic lupus erythematosus: 6-year follow-up.Lupus science & medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Combining mepacrine with hydroxychloroquine-based therapy in active systemic lupus erythematosus: an observational study of 106 patients from the Lupus-Cruces cohort.Lupus science & medicine · 2025Observational
- HCQ reverses the immune imbalance related to severe infections following chemotherapy of acute myeloid leukemia and exhibits inhibitory effects on inflammatory cytokine storms.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the daily and weight-adjusted dosages of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and the effects on long-term remission in the Lupus-Cruces cohort.
methodsObservational study of routine clinical care data. We selected inception patients treated with HCQ with at least 5 years of follow-up. Prolonged remission was achieved when patients fulfilled definitions of remission in systemic lupus erythematosus remission criteria in five consecutive yearly visits. The associations between the weight-adjusted dose of HCQ during 5 years and prolonged remission were analysed. We also investigated the associations between prednisone doses, immunosuppressives (IS) and other antimalarial use with HCQ doses.
results150 inception patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The mean starting dose of HCQ was 206 mg/day. The mean weight-adjusted starting dose of HCQ was 3.1 mg/kg/day with no patients treated with doses ≥5 mg/kg/day. Treatment with HCQ was maintained during the whole 5-year follow-up time in 147 patients (98%). The mean dose of HCQ during the 5-year follow-up was 194.6 mg/day (2.9 mg/kg/day). 108 patients (72%) were in prolonged remission. The mean weight-adjusted dose of HCQ per patient did not differ between those who did and did not achieve prolonged remission (2.9 vs 3 mg/kg/day, p=0.5). The dose of prednisone per patient (mean 2.3 mg/day during the 5-year follow-up) did not differ according to the weight-adjusted dose of HCQ. The mean weight-adjusted HCQ dose during the whole follow-up was the same in patients treated or not with IS or with mepacrine.
conclusionsWith the use of HCQ at stable doses of 200 mg/day (or 3.0-3.5 mg/kg/day) as the background therapy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, the majority of patients achieved prolonged remission.
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