[Effects of combined administration of prednisolone and mizoribine in the course of remission for SLE children with nephritis].

Since oral steroid therapy was introduced for SLE, the long-term prognosis of the patients has been significantly improved. Adverse effects of the drug, however, are inevitable for these patients. The characteristic of the adverse effects especially for the child case is the suppression of linear growth. In order to prevent these undesirable effects and to improve their quality of life (QOL), we had introduced the methylprednisolone pulse therapy for SLE in children as both an initial and a relapse therapy. Although this therapy improved QOL of the patients significantly, there was little benefit for the growth disturbance. Then, we have introduced Mizoribine in addition to prednisolone (PSL) therapy for more than 18 months in three SLE children with lupus nephritis. In this trial, the combination therapy was effective for the decrease of urinary protein in one case, and for the reduction of a dosage of oral PSL in one case. In other case, MZR showed only partial immunosuppression. Thus, we concluded that there was a limitation with this combination therapy, however, it is one of the worthy therapy to be tried in SLE children with nephritis.