Trial reportAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2007
Efficacy of rituximab (anti-CD20) for refractory systemic lupus erythematosus involving the central nervous system.
Trial report in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 109 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
109 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 338 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rituximab Therapy for Adult Refractory Systemic Lupus Erythematosus with Neurological and/or Psychiatric Presentations: A PRISMACompliant Meta-Analysis.Current rheumatology reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of High Efficacy Multiple Sclerosis Disease Modifying Drugs on the Immune Synapse: A Systematic Review.Current pharmaceutical design · 2024Pooled it
- 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
- Rituximab in the treatment of severe lupus myelopathy.Clinical rheumatology · 2011Trial
- Efficacy and safety of rituximab in moderately-to-severely active systemic lupus erythematosus: the randomized, double-blind, phase II/III systemic lupus erythematosus evaluation of rituximab trial.Arthritis and rheumatism · 2010Trial
- Long-term cerebrospinal fluid and blood lymphocyte dynamics after rituximab for pediatric opsoclonus-myoclonus.Journal of clinical immunology · 2010Trial
- Single dose of rituximab for refractory steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome in children.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2009Trial
- Article
- Long-term clinical outcomes and safety of rituximab in refractory neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus: a real-world single-center study.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus subtypes identified by unsupervised clustering: A single-center cohort study.Rheumatology and immunology research · 2026Article
- Immune regulation and cell metabolism in B cell subsets in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Comparison of obinutuzumab and rituximab for treating neuropsychiatric lupus: a retrospective case-control study.Lupus science & medicine · 2025Article
- 2025 Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.Rheumatology and immunology research · 2025Article
- Extensive T-Cell Profiling Following SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccination in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Treated with DMTs.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
- Advancements in understanding neuropsychiatric lupus: deciphering immune heterogeneity with single-cell resolution.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Case Report: Relapsing systemic lupus erythematosus treated with dual rituximab and anifrolumab therapy.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Psychosis-predominant neuropsychiatric lupus in a severely malnourished adolescent: a diagnostic challenge.Archive of clinical cases · 2025Article
- Towards precision medicine for systemic lupus erythematosus and neuropsychiatric manifestations.Expert review of precision medicine and drug development · 2025Article
49 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
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimNeuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is a serious treatment-resistant phenotype of systemic lupus erythematosus. A standard treatment for NPSLE is not available. This report describes the clinical and laboratory tests of 10 patients with NPSLE before and after rituximab treatment, including changes in lymphocyte phenotypes.
methodsRituximab was administered at different doses in 10 patients with refractory NPSLE, despite intensive treatment.
resultsTreatment with rituximab resulted in rapid improvement of central nervous system-related manifestations, particularly acute confusional state. Rituximab also improved cognitive dysfunction, psychosis and seizure, and reduced the SLE Disease Activity Index Score at day 28 in all 10 patients. These effects lasted for >1 year in five patients. Flow cytometric analysis showed that rituximab down regulated CD40 and CD80 on B cells and CD40L, CD69 and inducible costimulator on CD4+ T cells.
conclusionsRituximab rapidly improved refractory NPSLE, as evident by resolution of various clinical signs and symptoms and improvement of radiographic findings. The down regulation of functional molecules on B and T cells suggests that rituximab modulates the interaction of activated B and T cells through costimulatory molecules. These results warrant further analysis of rituximab as treatment for NPSLE.
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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.