 Note: While it would be highly desirable to maintain corticosteroid dosage at constant level for trial duration, it is impractical to anticipate that all patients with active SLE can be maintained without therapy modification for an 8-month period. Because corticosteroids are acceptable agents for treatment of the vast majority of minor lupus flares, and patients with major flares BILAG 2004 A or recent change in medications will be excluded, this will provide standardized treatment across study population that can be easily analyzed. An increase in prednisone dose of less than or equal to 10 mgday from their prednisone dose at study entry will be permitted during the trial for increased disease activity with a standardized taper allowable in small monthly decrements to the patient s baseline dose or 5 mgday, whichever is less. 