Huapaya JA, et al. - Researchers examined how azathioprine (AZA) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) influence lung function and prednisone dose in myositis-related interstitial lung disease (M-ILD). Sixty-six M-ILD patients treated with AZA and 44 with MMF at Johns Hopkins were retrospectively studied. They compared the change in percent-predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%), percent-predicted diffusion capacity (DLCO%) and prednisone dose using linear mixed-effect models adjusted for gender, age, antisynthetase antibody and smoking status. Findings revealed improved FVC%, DLCO%, and prednisone dose in correlation to AZA treatment in M-ILD. Treatment with MMF led to improvement in FVC% and prednisone dose. After 36 months, the use of a lower prednisone dose was noted in patients treated with AZA vs those treated with MMF.