Treatment of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus without glucocorticoids – myth or reality?

Abstract

Glucocorticoids (GC) currently remain one of the most important components of the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, prolonged use of GC inevitably leads to the development of irreversible organ damage. It has been proven that the use of biological diseasemodifying antirheumatic drugs that block key pathogenetic pathways of SLE has an advantage in patients with high disease activity and dependence on the use of medium and high doses of GC.Three clinical cases are presented in which patients with active SLE were treated with rituximab and belimumab without the use of oral GC.

Keywords

• системная красная волчанка
• комбинированная терапия
• генно-инженерные биологические препараты
• ритуксимаб
• белимумаб