Article Text
Abstract
Background Late-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were defined as disease onset at or over the age of 50 years. Several groups have reported the differences between late-onset SLE and early-onset SLE. To further address these differences in Chinese population, we summarize the characteristics of clinical features, laboratory results of late-onset systemic lupus erythematosus in a tertiary rheumatology center in China.
Methods We retrospectively analyzed 198 patients with late-onset SLE admitted to RenJi Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of medicine from Jan, 2013-Jan, 2018. A control group of randomly selected 198 SLE patients with disease onset earlier than the age of 50 admitted to the same hospital at the same time period was recruited. Clinical and laboratory data were collected through chart review.
Results Between January 2018 and August 2018, 198 SLE patients fulfilled definition for late-onset SLE. The predominance of women among late-onset SLE (4.7 : 1) was decreased as compared with that observed in early-onset SLE (18.8 : 1). The following clinical manifestations were less common in late-onset SLE when compared to that observed in early-onset group: malar rash (33.8% vs 64.1%, p=0.000), alopecia (11.6% vs 28.2%, p<0.001), photosensitivity (6.06% vs 13.6%, p=0.011), nephropathy (proteinuria: 24.2% vs 58.5%; hematuria 2.02% vs 21.2%, p<0.001), neuropsychiatric symptoms (1.51% vs 7.57%., p=0.004), while a higher incidence of xerostomia existed in late-onset SLE (9.59% vs 20.2% p=0.003) (table 1). Complement levels (C3, C4, CH50) were significantly higher in late-onset group when compared to those in early-onset group. Immunoglobulin G and A levels were higher in late-onset group than those in early-onset group (table 2). A non-significant decrease of urine protein creatinine ratio was observed in the late-onset group. A significantly increased incidence of positive anti-U1RNP, anti-SSA Ro60, and anti-SSB La was observed among the late-onset SLE patients (table 3).
Conclusions Our study confirmed that in a Chinese population, late-onset SLE patients were different from early-onset SLE patients in terms of clinical manifestations and laboratory results.
Funding Source(s): N/A