SynthesisMedicine2020
A systematic review and meta-analysis of rituximab combined with methotrexate versus methotrexate alone in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rituximab as monotherapy and in combination with methotrexate or leflunomide in rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective cohort study in a Peruvian hospital.Reumatologia · 2026Article
- State of the Art in Novel Treatment Strategies in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Brief Review.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2025Review
- Rituximab, Apremilast, and Upadacitinib as Selected Biosimilar and Targeted Synthetic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs with Diverse Mechanisms of Action: Their Current Use in Slowing Down the Progression of Disease.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Identifying rheumatic disease patients at high risk and requiring shielding during the COVID-19 pandemic.Clinical medicine (London, England) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis meta-analysis aimed to explore the efficacy and safety of rituximab combined with methotrexate (MTX) versus MTX alone in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
methodsWe performed an electronic search of PubMed (1950-January 2018), EMBASE (1974-January 2018), the Cochrane Library (January 2018 Issue 3), the Google database (1950-January 2018), and the Chinese Wanfang database (1950-January 2018). Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. The American College of Rheumatology 20% improvement criteria (ACR20), ACR50, ACR70, total complication rate, and infection rate were the outcomes. A fixed/random effects model was used according to the heterogeneity assessed by the I statistic. Data analysis was performed using Stata 12.0 software.
resultsA total of five RCTs with 3299 patients (rituximab combined with MTX group = 1787, MTX only group = 1512) were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled risk ratio showed that the administration of rituximab combined with MTX was associated with more ACR20, ACR50, and ACR70 than the administration of MTX only (P < .05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the total complication rate and the infection rate (P > .05).
conclusionThe administration of rituximab combined with MTX was effective and safe for RA patients. Additional high-quality RCTs with long-term follow-ups should be conducted in the future to identify the potential complications in the long term.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.