Trial reportAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2008
Assessment of rituximab's immunomodulatory synovial effects (ARISE trial). 1: clinical and synovial biomarker results.
Trial report in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00147966 (Assessment of the Immunomodulatory Effects of Rituximab in Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis Using Arthroscopic Synovial Biopsies), which is not on this map. Cited by 79 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Assessment of the Immunomodulatory Effects of Rituximab in Seropositive Rheumatoid Arthritis Using Arthroscopic Synovial Biopsies
Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 179 citations in OpenAlex.
- Compared efficacy of rituximab, abatacept, and tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis refractory to methotrexate or TNF inhibitors agents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Advances in rheumatology (London, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Rituximab for thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitors and Autoimmune Diseases: Making Sense of BTK Inhibitor Specificity Profiles and Recent Clinical Trial Successes and Failures.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Pooled it
- Rituximab for rheumatoid arthritis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Updated consensus statement on the use of rituximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2011Pooled it
- Rituximab versus tocilizumab in rheumatoid arthritis: synovial biopsy-based biomarker analysis of the phase 4 R4RA randomized trial.Nature medicine · 2022Trial
- Toreforant, an orally active histamine HInflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2019Trial
- The JAK inhibitor tofacitinib suppresses synovial JAK1-STAT signalling in rheumatoid arthritis.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2015Trial
- Response to rituximab and timeframe to relapse in rheumatoid arthritis patients: association with B-cell markers.Molecular diagnosis & therapy · 2010Trial
- Synovial tissue response to rituximab: mechanism of action and identification of biomarkers of response.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2008Trial
- Novel assessment tools to evaluate clinical and laboratory responses in a subset of patients enrolled in the Rituximab in Myositis trial.Clinical and experimental rheumatologyTrial
- Clinical progress of engineered cellular immunotherapies for autoimmunity.Nature biotechnology · 2026Review
- CAR T Cell Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2025Review
- Advances in the treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2025Review
- Biological Clock Perspective in Rheumatoid Arthritis.Inflammation · 2025Review
- Poor prognostic factors and unmet needs in rheumatoid arthritis.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Review
- Opportunities and limitations of B cell depletion approaches in SLE.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2025Review
- BiTE therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.Nature medicine · 2024Article
- Prior cycles of anti-CD20 antibodies affect antibody responses after repeated SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination.JCI insight · 2023Article
- A nondepleting anti-CD19 antibody impairs B cell function and inhibits autoimmune diseases.JCI insight · 2023Article
19 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
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTreatment with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb) rituximab is effective in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Marked depletion of circulating B cells, seen in almost all patients, does not correlate with efficacy. The potential synovial immunomodulatory effects of rituximab have not been fully defined.
methodsThe ARISE trial is an open label, serial synovial biopsy (pre-treatment and 8 weeks) study of rituximab, given 1 g intravenously on days 0 and 14 without peri-infusional steroids, in active RA patients on concomitant methotrexate (MTX). Synovial tissue was analysed by immunohistochemistry with digital image analysis and gene expression by real-time PCR.
resultsThe mean (SD) baseline DAS28 score was 6.5 (0.4), and mean MTX dose 17.3 mg/week. Of 13 patients, 11 had failed prior tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor therapy. With treatment, all patients experienced near complete depletion of circulating B cell numbers. During the 6 months after treatment, 7/13 patients achieved an American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 20% improvement (ACR20) response, 3/13 an ACR50 response and 2/13 an ACR70 response. There was a significant decrease in synovial B cells after treatment, but only a small trend towards greater reduction among clinical responders. Among the three patients with ACR50 responses there was a significant decrease in synovial immunoglobulin synthesis.
conclusionsThese data suggest that unlike those in circulation, synovial B cells are decreased but are not eliminated by rituximab therapy. Patients with higher levels of response may have more consistent depletion of synovial B cells, and may also have an alteration in synovial B cell function, as indicated by decreases in synovial immunoglobulin synthesis. Thus, effects on synovial B cells may be necessary but not sufficient for inducing clinical efficacy. Other effects, such as on primary lymph organ B cell antigen presentation or cytokine production, may be operative.
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Registered trials
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.