Trial reportArthritis research & therapy2006
Clinical and immunological effects of Rituximab in patients with lupus nephritis refractory to conventional therapy: a pilot study.
Trial report in Arthritis research & therapy, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
82 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 305 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and safety of rituximab therapy for systemic lupus erythematosus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B · 2012Pooled it
- Off-label use of rituximab in systemic lupus erythematosus: a systematic review.Clinical rheumatology · 2010Pooled it
- Trial
- Treatment of active lupus nephritis with the novel immunosuppressant 15-deoxyspergualin: an open-label dose escalation study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2011Trial
- Should rituximab be considered as the first-choice treatment for severe autoimmune rheumatic diseases?Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2008Trial
- Refractory lupus nephritis: current Understanding and emerging treatment strategies.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2025Review
- Identification of amino acids metabolomic profiling in human plasma distinguishes lupus nephritis from systemic lupus erythematosus.Amino acids · 2024Article
- Alemtuzumab-induced thyroid eye disease successfully treated with a single low dose of rituximab.European thyroid journal · 2024Article
- Rituximab in the Treatment of Non-Infectious Uveitis: A Review.Journal of inflammation research · 2024Review
- Evidence based treatment for lupus nephritis: present perspectives and challenges.Frontiers in nephrology · 2024Review
- Progress of rituximab in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Review
- Diagnosis and treatment of lupus nephritis: a summary of the Consensus Document of the Spanish Group for the Study of Glomerular Diseases (GLOSEN).Clinical kidney journal · 2023Review
- Promising Experimental Treatments for Lupus Nephritis: Key Talking Points and Potential Opportunities.Research and reports in urology · 2023Review
- Off-Label Uses of Rituximab in Dermatology.Current dermatology reports · 2022Review
- The frequency of Treg subsets distinguishes disease activity in ANCA vasculitis.Clinical & translational immunology · 2022Article
- Initial Preserved Renal Function as a Predictor of Favorable Renal Response to Rituximab in Refractory or Relapsing Lupus Nephritis: A Single-center Cohort Study in Korea.Journal of rheumatic diseases · 2022Article
- Rituximab Dosing in Glomerular Diseases: A Scoping Review.Canadian journal of kidney health and disease · 2022Article
- A prospective cohort study of rituximab in the treatment of refractory nephrotic syndrome.International urology and nephrology · 2022Article
- B-cell Deficiency Attenuates Transplant Glomerulopathy in a Rat Model of Chronic Active Antibody-mediated Rejection.Transplantation · 2021Article
- Basiliximab impairs regulatory T cell (TREG) function and could affect the short-term graft acceptance in children with heart transplantation.Scientific reports · 2021Article
22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We studied the clinical and immunological effects of Rituximab (anti-CD20) therapy in patients with lupus nephritis. In an open clinical trial, 22 patients with active systemic lupus erythematosis and renal involvement (mainly class III and IV according to the WHO classification) that was refractory to conventional therapy were studied. In all these patients, Rituximab (0.5 to 1.0 g at days 1 and 15) was added to the immunosuppressive therapy and its therapeutic effect was evaluated. In addition, the levels and function of regulatory T lymphocytes and the apoptosis of immune cells were assessed. We found a significant reduction in disease activity (p < 0.05, MEX-SLEDAI index), and proteinuria (p < 0.05) at days 60 and 90 of Rituximab therapy. Although most patients showed improvement in creatinine clearance and erythrocyturia, no significant changes in these parameters were detected. In most patients (20/22), B cell depletion was observed, but no clear-cut effect of Rituximab on complement levels or auto-antibody titers was detected (p > 0.05 in all cases). One patient died at day 70 with invasive histoplasmosis. No important adverse effects of Rituximab therapy were registered in other patients. A significant enhancement in the levels of different CD4+ regulatory cells (TREG, Th3, Tr1), but not CD8+ Ts lymphocytes, was observed at day 30. This increase was sustained for TREG cells at day 90, and accompanied by an improvement in their regulatory function. In addition, we observed an unexpected increase in the apoptosis of T cells at day 30. Interestingly, the enhancement in the suppressive function of TREG cells was not observed in the two patients that showed the poorest clinical response to Rituximab. We conclude that the data obtained in this open clinical trial suggest that Rituximab is a promising candidate for randomized controlled trials in patients with lupus nephritis refractory to the conventional immunosuppressive therapy. The effects of Rituximab on regulatory cells and apoptosis of T lymphocytes are interesting and its possible role in the putative effect of this biological agent in systemic lupus erythematosis deserves additional studies.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.