Objective: To investigate the incidence and correlative factors of metabolic syndrome (MS) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Methods: A total of 116 SLE patients and 115 controls were enrolled into the study. The incidence of MS, SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) of patients with SLE combined with MS (MS-SLE) and patients without MS (n-MS-SLE), lupus characteristics, cumulative glucocorticoids, administration dose of glucocorticoids and hydroxychloroquine were compared between SLE group and the control group.
Results: The incidence of MS of SLE group was obviously higher than that of the control (34.48% vs 14.78%, P < 0.05). The ratios of patients with lower HDL-C, higher TG and higher blood pressure in SLE group (50.86%, 56.03%, 46.55%) were higher than those in the controls (34.78%, 16.52%, 20.00%, all P < 0.05). MS-SLE group had significantly higher mean waist circumference, BMI, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure and lower HDL-C than n-MS-SLE group (all P < 0.05). No significant difference was found regarding duration of disease, renal involvement, ESR, C-reactive protein,high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, SLEDAI, cumulative and current glucocorticoids use in MS-SLE group and n-MS-SLE group. The ratio of patients taking hydroxychloroquine in n-MS-SLE group was higher than that of MS-SLE group (46.05% vs 15.00%, P < 0.05).
Conclusions: Patients with SLE has a higher incidence rate of MS. Hydroxychloroquine may reduce their MS incidence.