Objective: To measure the change in bone mineral density (BMD) in premenopausal women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) during 4 years of follow-up, and to identify the role of glucocorticoid and disease related variables.
Method: Premenopausal women with SLE were clinically evaluated and underwent BMD measurement of the lumbar spine, femoral neck and trochanter by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry.
Results: 106 SLE patients were evaluated with a mean age of 31.7 + 7.5 years, duration of SLE 2.5 + 2.6 years, mean daily dose 17.1 + 14 mg/d, duration of prednisolone treatment 16.3 + 19.9 months during 4 years of follow-up. There was no significant change in BMD at the lumbar spine (1.051 + 0.15 vs 1.052 + 0.14 vs 1.056 + 0.17 vs 1.056 + 0.19; p = 0.27), femoral neck (0.861 + 0.12 vs 0.867 + 0.12 vs 0.846 + 0.12 vs 0.844 + 0.12; p = 0.28) and trochanter (0.718 + 0.12 vs 0.726 + 0.13 vs 0.717 + 0.13 vs 0.709 + 0.14; p = 0.26) at the baseline, first, second and fourth year follow-up study. Furthermore, annual percentage BMD changes were not significant in lumbar BMD (p = 0.37), femoral neck BMD (p = 0.65) and trochanteric BMD (p = 0.47) during the 4 years follow-up study. The average annual percentage change of BMD was not significantly associated with change in age, body mass index (BMI), disease activity, disease severity, disease duration and prednisolone treatment. In addition, there were no significant bone changes between subgroups treated with < 7.5 mg and > 7.5 mg daily dose of prednisolone as indicated by BMD at the lumbar spine, femoral neck and trochanter as well as annual percentage BMD changes over the study period.
Conclusion: There was no significant change of lumbar spine, femoral neck or trochanteric BMD in premenopausal
SLE women treated with corticosteroid. These findings suggest that low dose prednisolone may not be detrimental to bone in premenopausal women with SLE during longterm treatment.

Keywords: Bone mineral density, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Glucocorticoids