Treatment of refractory SLE with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide: clinical effects, serological changes, and predictors of response

Abstract

The majority of patients improved following rituximab plus cyclophosphamide. The differential downregulation of anti-DNA of the IgG and IgA but not the IgM isotypes supports the hypothesis that cells producing pathogenic autoantibodies are preferentially targeted by the treatment. The fact that greater absolute numbers of CD19+ cells at baseline predict a less impressive clinical and serological response suggests that more flexible dosing could be advantageous.

Rituximab and lupus: Good in real life, bad in controlled trials. comment on the article by Lu et al

“…Regarding ethnic factors, the 2 RCTs included American patients, predominantly from the US and Canada, but also from Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. However, the majority of patients from recent uncontrolled studies were European (1,6,7,9,11,12). This ethnicity is important because some studies have suggested a variable therapeutic response to the main immunosuppressive agents in different ethnic groups (13).…”

Analysis of Celiac Disease Autoreactive Gut Plasma Cells and Their Corresponding Memory Compartment in Peripheral Blood Using High-Throughput Sequencing

“…n autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus, there is evidence that B cells play a central role in the pathogenesis (1)(2)(3). Disease-specific autoantibodies, produced by plasma cells (PCs) and/or plasmablasts, are commonly used in the clinic as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers (4,5).…”

The Role of B-Cells and B-Cell Targeted Therapies in Lupus Nephritis

“…Five of 9 nephritis patients had BILAG renal scores of C or D at 6 months. 71 Other small trials showed similar efficacy in both treating lupus as well as lupus nephritis. [72][73][74] Nevertheless, the results from recent randomized control trials were not as promising.…”