C3 and systemic lupus erythematosus: In our study, we found that in patients with pediatric-onset SLE, initial complement C3 and C4 levels were associated with the discontinuation of GCs, which is similar to the findings of Wilhelm et al. When the initial C3, initial C4, and lowest C4 levels were increased by 1, the probability of discontinuing GCs was increased by 1.01-fold, 1.07-fold, and 1.07-fold respectively after age and gender adjustment in this study.