High prolactin levels are independently associated with damage accrual in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.
OBJECTIVE
to determine whether prolactin levels are independently associated with disease damage in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.


METHODS
these cross-sectional analyses were conducted in SLE patient members of the Almenara Lupus Cohort who were seen between January 2012 and June 2013. Disease damage was ascertained with the System Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology (SLICC/ACR) damage index (SDI). Prolactin was measured in ng/ml. The association between prolactin levels and the SDI (total and its domains) was evaluated using Spearman's correlation. Subsequently, adjusted Poisson regression models were performed to evaluate these associations.


RESULTS
160 patients were included. 147 (91.9%) were female; their median age at diagnosis was 33.4 (interquartile range (IQR): 26.0-44.3) years; their disease duration was 5.5 (IQR: 2.6-9.7) years. The median prolactin value was 16.8 (IQR: 11.8-24.5) ng/ml. After adjusting for confounders in the Poisson regression model the estimated rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each 10 ng/ml increment of prolactin were 1.13 (95% CI 1.60-1.20, p<0.001) for the total SDI score, 1.15 (1.03-1.28, p=0.003) for the renal domain and 1.41 (1.11-1.79, p=0.003) for the cardiac/peripheral vascular domains.


CONCLUSIONS
there was a positive association between prolactin levels and the SDI (overall and its renal and cardiac/peripheral vascular domains), independently of other well-known risk factors.
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú Universidad Científica del Sur, Perú manuel_ugarte@yahoo.com.
M F
MF
Ugarte-Gil
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú
R V
RV
Gamboa-Cárdenas
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú
F
F
Zevallos
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú
M
M
Medina
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú
J M
JM
Cucho-Venegas
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
R A
RA
Perich-Campos
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú
J L
JL
Alfaro-Lozano
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
Z
Z
Rodriguez-Bellido
Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, School of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.
G S
GS
Alarcón
Servicio de Reumatología, Hospital Nacional Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen, Perú Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
C A
CA
Pastor-Asurza
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006966:Hyperprolactinemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010568:Peru / Q000453:epidemiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015854:Up-Regulation
D015415:Biomarkers; D011388:Prolactin
Systemic lupus erythematosus; damage; prolactin