Table 6.
Joint effects of MMF and other major drugs on overall infection in patients with SLE
| Variable | MMF | Patients with infection, n (%) (n = 1577) |
Patients without infection, n (%) (n = 1762) |
OR (95% CI) | Adjusted OR (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CYC | |||||
| No | No | 1072 (41.8) | 1490 (58.2) | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| No | Yes | 119 (58.6) | 84 (41.4) | 1.97 (1.47, 2.63) | 1.84 (1.36, 2.50) |
| Yes | No | 251 (62.6) | 150 (37.4) | 2.33 (1.87, 2.89) | 1.86 (1.47, 2.36) |
| Yes | Yes | 135 (78.0) | 38 (22.0) | 4.94 (3.42, 7.14) | 3.75 (2.53, 5.56) |
| ROR | 1.08 (0.65, 1.79) | 1.09 (0.65, 1.83) | |||
| TAC | |||||
| No | No | 1124 (43.7) | 1449 (56.3) | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| No | Yes | 179 (67.8) | 85 (32.2) | 2.72 (2.07, 3.56) | 2.01 (1.50, 2.69) |
| Yes | No | 199 (51.0) | 191 (49.0) | 1.34 (1.09, 1.66) | 1.14 (0.91, 1.44) |
| Yes | Yes | 75 (67.0) | 37 (33.0) | 2.61 (1.75, 3.90) | 1.86 (1.20, 2.86) |
| ROR | 0.72 (0.43, 1.20) | 0.81 (0.47, 1.39) | |||
| Daily GCs | |||||
| ≤ 20 mg | No | 566 (41.3) | 804 (58.7) | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| ≤ 20 mg | Yes | 161 (65.7) | 84 (34.3) | 2.72 (2.05, 3.62) | 2.09 (1.54, 2.83) |
| > 20 mg | No | 757 (47.5) | 836 (52.5) | 1.29 (1.11, 1.49) | 1.30 (1.11, 1.53) |
| > 20 mg | Yes | 93 (71.0) | 38 (29.0) | 3.48 (2.35, 5.15) | 2.28 (1.50, 3.46) |
| ROR | 0.99 (0.61, 1.61) | 0.84 (0.51, 1.39) | |||
| HCQ | |||||
| Yes | No | 957 (45.3) | 1157 (54.7) | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Yes | Yes | 177 (66.5) | 89 (33.5) | 2.40 (1.84, 3.15) | 1.79 (1.34, 2.40) |
| No | No | 366 (43.1) | 483 (56.9) | 0.92 (0.78, 1.08) | 0.95 (0.80, 1.13) |
| No | Yes | 77 (70.0) | 33 (30.0) | 2.82 (1.86, 4.28) | 2.09 (1.34, 3.23) |
| ROR | 1.28 (0.77, 2.13) | 1.22 (0.72, 2.08) | |||
| Other immunosuppressantsa | |||||
| No | No | 1018 (42.0) | 1408 (58.0) | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| No | Yes | 94 (56.0) | 74 (44.0) | 1.76 (1.28, 2.41) | 1.61 (1.16, 2.24) |
| Yes | No | 305 (56.8) | 232 (43.2) | 1.82 (1.51, 2.20) | 1.50 (1.22, 1.84) |
| Yes | Yes | 160 (76.9) | 48 (23.1) | 4.61 (3.31, 6.43) | 3.51 (2.45, 5.03) |
| ROR | 1.44 (0.89, 2.34) | 1.46 (0.89, 2.39) | |||
MMF mycophenolate mofetil, CYC cyclophosphamide, TAC tacrolimus, GCs glucocorticoids, all classes of GCs were converted to equivalent prednisone doses, HCQ hydroxychloroquine, OR odds ratio, CI confidence interval, ROR ratio of ORs. Multivariable analysis models were adjusted for sex (female = 1, male = 0), age (continuous), SLE disease period years (continuous), SLEDAI score on admission (continuous), hypertension (yes = 1, no = 0), diabetes mellitus (yes = 1, no = 0), mean daily prednisone equivalent dose (continuous), CYC treatment (yes = 1, no = 0), TAC treatment (yes = 1, no = 0), and other immunosuppressants (yes = 1, no = 0)
aOther immunosuppressants included leflunomide, methotrexate, cyclosporin A, azathioprine, thalidomide, and tripterygium glycosides