The authors offer some comments on the advantages and possible drawbacks of using the SLICC criteria in longitudinal observational studies and clinical trials after applying and comparing them to the ACR criteria in two multinational, multiethnic lupus cohorts.

The need for comprehensive published epidemiologic and clinical data from Latin American systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients motivated the late Dr Alarcón-Segovia and other Latin American professionals taking care of these patients to spearhead the creation of the G: rupo L: atino A: mericano D: e E: studio del L: upus (GLADEL) cohort in 1997. This inception cohort recruited a total of 1480 multiethnic (Mestizo, African-Latin American (ALA), Caucasian and other) SLE patients diagnosed within two years from the time of enrollment from 34 Latin American centers with expertise in the diagnosis and management of this disease. In addition to the initial 2004 description of the cohort, GLADEL has contributed to improving our knowledge about the course and outcome of lupus in patients from this part of the Americas. The major findings from this cohort are highlighted in this review. They have had important clinical implications for the adequate care of SLE patients both in Latin America and worldwide where these patients may have emigrated.

Objectives To assess the predictors of time-to-lupus renal disease in Latin American patients. Methods SLE patients (n=1480) from GLADEL’s (Grupo Latino Americano De Estudio de Lupus) longitudinal inception cohort were studied. Endpoint was ACR renal criterion development after SLE diagnosis (prevalent cases excluded). Renal disease predictors were examined by univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Antimalarials were considered time-dependent in alternative analyses. Results Of the entire cohort, 265 patients (17.9%) developed renal disease after entering the cohort. Of them, 88 (33.2%) developed persistent proteinuria, 44 (16.6%) cellular casts and 133 (50.2%) both; 233 patients (87.9%) were women; mean (± SD) age at diagnosis was 28.0 (11.9) years; 12.8% were African-Latin Americans, 52.5% Mestizos, 34.7% Caucasians (p=0.0016). Mestizo ethnicity (HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.19–2.17), hypertension (HR 3.99, 95% CI 3.02–5.26) and SLEDAI at diagnosis (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.06) were associated with a shorter time-to-renal disease occurrence; antimalarial use (HR 0.57, 95% CI 0.43–0.77), older age at onset (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.85–0.95, for every 5 years) and photosensitivity (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.56–0.98) were associated with a longer time. Alternative model results were consistent with the antimalarial protective effect (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.50–0.99). Conclusions Our data strongly support the fact that Mestizo patients are at increased risk of developing renal disease early while antimalarials seem to delay the appearance of this SLE manifestation. These data have important implications for the treatment of these patients regardless of their geographic location.

Objective To examine the role of place of residency in the expression and outcomes of SLE in a multi-ethnic Latin American cohort. Patients and Methods SLE patients (<2 years of diagnosis) from 34 centers constitute this cohort. Residency was dichotomized into rural and urban, cut-off: 10,000 inhabitants. Socio-demographic, clinical/laboratory, and mortality rates were compared between them using descriptive tests. The influence of place of residency on disease activity at diagnosis and renal disease was examined by multivariable regression analyses. Results 122 (8.6%) of 1426 patients were rural residents. Their median age (onset, diagnosis) were 23.5 and 25.5 years; 85 (69.7%) patients were Mestizos, 28 (22.9%) Caucasians and 9 (7.4%) African-Latin Americans. Rural residents were more frequently younger at diagnosis, Mestizo and uninsured; they also had fewer years of education and a lower socioeconomic status, exhibited hypertension and renal disease more frequently, and had higher levels of disease activity at diagnosis; they used methotrexate, cyclophosphamide pulses, and hemodialysis more frequently than urban patients. Disease activity over time, renal damage, overall damage and the proportion of deceased patients were comparable in both, rural and urban patients.. In multivariable analyses, rural residency was associated with high levels of disease activity at diagnosis (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.06–2.57) and renal disease occurrence (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.00–3.11). Conclusions Rural residency associates with Mestizo ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status, and renal disease occurrence. It also plays a role on disease activity at diagnosis and kidney involvement but not on the other end-points examined.