Mycophenolate mofetil versus azathioprine for maintenance treatment of lupus nephritis.

To compare the efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) with that of azathioprine (AZA) drugs in the maintenance therapy of lupus nephritis (LN) patients, we studied 81 Sudanese patients with LN (32 in Class III, 34 in Class IV, and 15 in combined Class V + IV of the ISN/RPS 2003 Classification). All patients received induction therapy consisting of monthly intravenous pulse doses of cyclophosphamide (CYC) (500 mg/m 2 of body-surface area) for six months, plus three consecutive pulses of intravenous methylprednisolone 15 mg/kg/day of body weight (maximum 500 mg). Subsequently, 41 (50.