Cytokine polymorphisms influence treatment outcomes in SLE patients treated with antimalarial drugs

Table 2 Tumor necrosis factor-α serum levels in healthy controls and systemic lupus erythematosus patients

	n	TNFα (pg/ml)^a	p
Healthy controls	215	19.66 (53.93)	0.020
SLE patients	171	33.57 (132.55)
Patient treatment:
None/NSAIDS	21	60.78 (158.15)	0.136
Antimalarials	36	16.64 (165.57)
Antimalarials and corticosteroids	54	24.95 (88.49)
Corticosteroids	26	60.01 (145.67)
Immunosuppressive drugs^b alone or with corticosteroids	22	105.34 (195.29)
Antimalarials, corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs^b	12	16.89 (50.70)

^aTNFα values are median (interquartile range). ^bMethotrexate, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine A or mycophenolate mophetil. Differences were evaluated by Mann-Whitney or Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric testing. NSAIDS, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.

ISSN: 1478-6362