First published: 05 JANUARY 2021 - A The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine is frequently prescribed to treat symptoms of the autoimmune disease lupus. In addition to decreasing disease flares, the drug can also prevent blood clots, which are a major problem in individuals with lupus. A new study in Arthritis & Rheumatology shows that monitoring patients’ blood levels of hydroxychloroquine can predict their clotting risk.
In 739 patients, clotting occurred in 38 patients (5.1%). Average hydroxychloroquine blood levels were lower in patients who developed clots, and clotting rates were reduced by 12% for every 200 ng/mL increase in the most recent hydroxychloroquine blood level.
The finding may help clinicians determine the optimal dosing of hydroxychloroquine in patients with lupus.
“Hydroxychloroquine blood levels can be used to monitor adherence, benefits, and risks in lupus,” said lead author Michelle Petri, MD, MPH, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. URL Upon Publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/art.41621
URL Upon Publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/art.41621
Author Contact: Michelle Petri, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Email: mpetri{at}jhmi.edu https://doi.org/10.1002/art.41621
Copyright © 2021 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., reproduced with permission.
- Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License (CC BY-NC), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.