SynthesisActa neurologica Belgica2023
Efficacy and safety of rituximab in multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Acta neurologica Belgica, 2023. 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.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Immunosuppression in down syndrome regression disorder: a prospective observational cohort study.Brain communications · 2026Article
- An interactive web application to identify early Parkinsonian non-tremor-dominant subtypes.Journal of neurology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveWe aimed to synthesize all available observational studies and clinical trials of rituximab to estimate the safety and efficacy of this monoclonal antibody in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
methodsThe four databases including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science were comprehensively searched in April 2022. We defined PICO as follows. Problem or study population (P): patients with MS; intervention (I): Rituximab; comparison (C): none; outcome (O): efficacy and safety.
resultsAfter two-step screening, a total of 27 studies entered into our qualitative and quantitative synthesis. Our analysis showed a significant decrease in EDSS score in all patients with MS after treatment (SMD: - 0.44, 95% CI - 0.85, - 0.03). In addition, the ARR was reduced after using rituximab compared to the pre-treatment period (SMD: - 0.65, 95% CI - 1.55, 0.24) but it was not significant. The most common side effect after rituximab with a pooled prevalence of 28.63% (95% CI 16.61%, 42.33%). Furthermore, the pooled prevalence of infection was 24% in patients with MS (95% CI 13%, 36%). In the end, the pooled prevalence of malignancies after rituximab treatment was 0.39% (95% CI 0.02%, 1.03%).
conclusionOur findings illustrated an acceptable safety for this treatment. However, further studies with randomized design, long follow-up, and large sample sizes are needed to confirm the safety and efficacy of rituximab in patients with MS.
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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.