Rituximab in severe autoimmune TTP

Adjuvant rituximab to prevent TTP relapse.

Acquired TTP is a thrombotic microangiopathy attributable to autoantibody-mediated deficiency of the von Willebrand factor–cleaving protease, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13). Standard therapy with plasma exchange (PEX), supplemented with corticosteroids, is lifesaving. PEX works by removing anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibody and ultralarge vo...

Rituximab in autoimmune diseases.

Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that depletes B cells from the circulation. It was originally used to treat lymphoma but is increasingly used for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Rituximab was found to be effective in randomised controlled trials for rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis and other antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitides. However, evi...

Rituximab: An Autoimmune Disease Therapy

Rituximab therapy in autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is presumed to be an autoimmune disorder that may lead to pulmonary insufficiency. However, steroids do not appear to be effective and the standard of therapy is whole-lung lavage. We report the first case of successful therapy with rituximab, which addresses the pathogenic mechanism of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.

Off-label use of rituximab in 196 patients with severe, refractory systemic autoimmune diseases.

OBJECTIVES To analyse the safety and efficacy of the off-label use of rituximab in patients with severe, refractory systemic autoimmune diseases. METHODS In 2006, the Study Group on Autoimmune Diseases of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine created the BIOGEAS project, a multicenter study devoted to collecting data on the use of biological agents in adult patients with systemic autoimmun...