TREATMENT OF ACTIVE SLE AND THE PREVENTION OF SUBSEQUENT LUPUS FLARES

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether abatacept will have a greater clinical efficacy compared to placebo on a common background of glucocorticosteroids in treating patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who have exhibited recently active ("entry flare") manifestions of SLE. Entry flare manifestations include: arthritis, pleuritis/pericarditis, and or/discoid cutaneous lesions satisfying the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) "A" or "B" criteria. Specifically, the study will examine whether abatacept will prevent patients with these recently active flares from developing subsequent flares when tapering the glucocorticosteroids used to attain initial control of the entry flare.