Treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus with mycophenolate mofetil.

Mycophenolate mofetil is an immunosuppressive drug that is of established efficacy in renal transplantation. It inhibits the de novo pathway of purine synthesis and therefore lymphocyte proliferation. Mycophenylate mofetil has been shown to ameliorate the severity of renal injury in murine models of lupus nephritis. Recent studies suggest that it may also be effective in the treatment of patients with lupus nephritis when used in conjunction with steroids. These observations need to be confirmed in adequately sized randomised-controlled studies.