Objectives: To evaluate amylase and lipase levels in a cohort of patients diagnosed with SLE, identify patients with subclinical and clinical pancreatitis and investigate factors associated.
Methods: Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected, including recent clinical symptoms possibly related to pancreatitis, use of medication, disease activity (SLEDAI-2K), and serum amylase and lipase levels. Patients with pancreatic enzyme levels ≥ 1.5 times in excess of the upper limit of normal and/or patients with clinical suspicion of pancreatitis were submitted to abdominal CT or US.
Results: The study included 136 SLE patients aged 33.9 ± 11.2 years. Three patients (2.2%) were diagnosed with clinical pancreatitis and 7 (5.1%) with subclinical pancreatitis. Multiple causal factors were associated with increased enzymes levels such as activity of the disease, drug toxicity, hypertriglyceridemia and chronic kidney failure. Patients with clinical and subclinical pancreatitis (n=10) when compared with pancreatitis-free patients had more SLE active, levels were lower for haemoglobin, platelets and albumin, and higher for triglycerides and AST. Thrombocytopenia, high blood sedimentation rate and hypertriglyceridemia were the only variables associated with pancreatitis in the logistic regression model.
Conclusions: The prevalence of clinical and subclinical pancreatitis in SLE patients was low and associated with multiple potential factors. The association of thrombocytopenia and pancreatitis in SLE patients requires further studies.