Participants
The present randomized, double-blind clinical trial study was performed among patients with SLE referred to the rheumatology clinic of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran. SLE diagnosis occurred based on the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) revised criteria [The approval of this study was granted by the ethical committee of the Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences (IR.RUMS.REC.1397.100) and registered as a clinical trial in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20181030041500N2). In addition, informed consent was obtained from all cases or their families.