ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2019
Effect of rituximab treatment on T and B cell subsets in lymph node biopsies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 140 citations in OpenAlex.
- Disruption of memory B-cell trafficking by belimumab in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2024Pooled it
- CD19 CAR T cell therapy for treatment-refractory seropositive rheumatoid arthritis: a phase 1 trial.Nature medicine · 2026Trial
- [Long-term follow up of efficiency and safety of CD19-CAR T-cell treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2025Trial
- Efficacy and safety of sequential therapy with subcutaneous belimumab and one cycle of rituximab in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: the phase 3, randomised, placebo-controlled BLISS-BELIEVE study.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2024Trial
- A randomized, phase II study of sequential belimumab and rituximab in primary Sjögren's syndrome.JCI insight · 2022Trial
- Complete remission after rituximab therapy of pemphigus: Real-world evidence on dosing regimens and retreatment strategies.JID innovations : skin science from molecules to population health · 2026Article
- Sjögren Disease-B Cells at the Brink: From Autoimmunity to Lymphomagenesis and the Rise of Novel B Cell-Targeted Therapies.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Review
- Longitudinal evolution of rheumatoid factor-expressing lymphoma precursors in a patient with Sjögren's disease.Journal of translational autoimmunity · 2026Article
- Obinutuzumab Versus Rituximab for the Treatment of Primary Membranous Nephropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Anti-CD19 CAR T cells for pediatric patients with treatment-refractory autoimmune diseases.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Effectiveness of Long-Term Therapy with Russian Rituximab Biosimilar (Acellbia) in Sjogren's Disease in Real Clinical Practice.Doklady. Biochemistry and biophysics · 2026Article
- CD40L and IL-4 lymph node-associated signals protect B cells from rituximab-induced ADCC via KIR and NKG2A.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2026Article
- The pathogenic role of double-negative B cells in autoimmune diseases.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Obinutuzumab treatment for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Revisiting B-cell targeted therapies in rheumatoid arthritis: from paradoxical biology to deep immune reset.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Decoding autoimmune disease with single-cell immune repertoire and transcriptome sequencing: mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Comprehensive Review of Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Innovative Therapeutic Advancements.Current pharmaceutical design · 2026Review
- Age-associated B-cells across the rheumatoid arthritis continuum: from early immunopathogenesis to comorbidities.Frontiers in aging · 2026Review
- Current and future treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.Journal of rheumatic diseases · 2026Review
- Successful outcome of Rituximab treatment based on lymphocyte immunophenotyping in active Thyroid Eye Disease: a case report.Thyroid research · 2025Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe exact underlying mechanism of rituximab treatment in patients with RA is poorly defined and knowledge about the effect of B cell depletion on immune cells in secondary lymphoid organs is lacking. We analysed lymphoid tissue responses to rituximab in RA patients.
methodsFourteen RA patients received 2 × 1000 mg rituximab intravenously, and lymph node (LN) biopsies were obtained before and 4 weeks after the first infusion. Tissues were examined by flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry and quantitative PCR. LN biopsies from five healthy individuals (HC) served as controls.
resultsLN biopsies of RA patients showed increased frequencies of CD21+CD23+IgDhighIgMvariable follicular B cells and CD3+CD25+CD69+ early activated, tissue resident T cells when compared with HCs. After treatment, there was incomplete depletion of LN B cells. There was a significant decrease in CD27-IgD+ naïve B cells, and CD27+IgD+ unswitched memory B cells including the CD27+IgD+IgM+ subset and follicular B cells. Strikingly, CD27+IgD- switched memory B cells persisted in LN biopsies after rituximab treatment. In the T cell compartment, a significant decrease was observed in the frequency of early activated, tissue resident T cells after rituximab treatment, but late activated T cells persisted. B cell proliferation inducing cytokine IL-21 was higher expressed in LN biopsies of RA patients compared with HC and expression was not affected by rituximab treatment.
conclusionRituximab does not cure RA, possibly due to persistence of switched memory B cells in lymphoid tissues suggesting that factors promoting B cell survival and differentiation need to be additionally targeted.
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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.