ArticleClinical rheumatology2022
Rituximab as a glucocorticoid-sparing agent in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: a retrospective single-center cohort study.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rituximab in myositis: where are we now? A survey of current usage.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Off-Label Uses of Rituximab in Dermatology.Current dermatology reports · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIdiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are essentially treated aiming to improve muscle function and extra muscular disease manifestations. Rituximab is potentially a glucocorticoid-sparing agent which was reviewed in multiple studies with small sample sizes due to the rarity of the disease. Higher statistical power can enhance the trustworthiness of alternative treatment modalities yielding the main objective of this study.
methodsThis retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary rheumatology center. Patients were diagnosed with an idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis (PM)) and were treated with rituximab to be included in this study. Parameters of disease activity including acute phase reactants, muscle enzyme levels, and disease-specific autoantibodies were analyzed. The primary study endpoint was the improvement of the patient symptoms. The secondary endpoint was the decrease in the creatinine kinase level.
resultsThe study includes 26 patients (19 DM, 7 PM). The age of diagnosis was 42.04 ± 15.22 years; the follow-up duration was 64.84 ± 71.91 months. The mean corticosteroid dose decreased from 32.895 ± 24.399 to 8.44 ± 11.29 (p < 0.001). Other treatment methods were methotrexate (n = 18), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) (n = 7), and cyclophosphamide (n = 2). Two patients were lost to follow-up.
conclusionRituximab is shown to be effective in treating myositis along with corticosteroids as well as a corticosteroid-sparing agent in retrospective studies and open-label clinical trials; however, lack of statistical power should be underlined. Long-term decrease in steroid use and decrease in disease activity markers hint the effective use of rituximab as a glucocorticoid-sparing agent as well as its safety with minimal side effects. Key Points • Long-term decrease in steroid use and decrease in disease activity markers hint the effective use of rituximab as a glucocorticoid-sparing agent as well as its safety with minimal side effects.
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