OBJECTIVE The TrialNet Study Group evaluated rituximab, a B-cell-depleting monoclonal antibody, for its effect in new-onset patients with type 1A diabetes. Rituximab decreased the loss of C-peptide over the first year of follow-up and markedly depleted B lymphocytes for 6 months after administration. This article analyzes the specific effect of rituximab on multiple islet autoantibodies. RESE...

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a progressive liver disease for which limited therapies are recommended. Rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, is expected to be a useful therapeutic regimen for PBC. Previous studies indicated biochemical and immunological improvement in PBC after rituximab treatment. Although rituximab shows therapeutic potential for PBC, few cases have been reported ...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the long-term impact on physical function of a single course of rituximab in rheumatoid factor, seropositive patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite ongoing methotrexate treatment. METHODS A randomized, controlled trial comparing rituximab alone [1,000 mg intravenously (iv) on days 1 and 15, n= 40], or in combination with cyclophosphamide (750 mg iv on da...

BACKGROUND Rituximab is a B cell depleting anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. CD20 is not expressed on mature plasma cells and accordingly rituximab does not have immediate effects on immunoglobulin levels. However, after rituximab some patients develop hypogammaglobulinaemia. METHODS We performed a single centre retrospective review of 177 patients with multisystem autoimmune disease receiving r...

Clinical observations suggest that treatment of Rituximab might be less effective in patients with nephrotic range proteinuria when compared to nonnephrotic patients. It is conceivable that the reason for this is that significant amounts of Rituximab might be lost in the urine in a nephrotic patient and that these patients require a repeated or higher dosage. However, this has not been systemat...

Rituximab, a genetically engineered chimeric monoclonal antibody specifically binding to CD20, was the first antibody approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of cancer. Rituximab significantly improves treatment outcome in relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). However, there are also some challenges for us to overcome: w...

PURPOSE The aim of this research was to further investigate the contribution of CD20 antigen expression to rituximab activity and define the mechanisms responsible for CD20 downregulation in rituximab-resistant cell lines (RRCL). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Rituximab-sensitive cell lines, RRCL, and primary neoplastic B cells were evaluated by chromium-51 release assays, ImageStream image analysis, im...

The anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab induces remission in 40% to 60% of patients with indolent B-cell lymphoma, but virtually all patients have relapses. We evaluated the efficacy of concurrent administration of another biologic agent, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide (4HPR, fenretinide) with rituximab against a variety of human B-cell lymphoma cell lines (Ramos, DHL-4, and FL-18) in vivo....

PURPOSE Individually targeting B-cell antigens with monoclonal antibody therapeutics has improved the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). We examined if the antitumor activity of rituximab, CD20-specific antibody, could be improved by simultaneously targeting CD40 with the humanized monoclonal antibody dacetuzumab (SGN-40). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Dacetuzumab was dosed with rituximab to dete...

The CD20-specific monoclonal antibody rituximab (MabThera(®), Rituxan(®)) is widely used as the backbone of treatment for patients with hematologic disorders. Intravenous administration of rituximab is associated with infusion times of 4-6 hours, and can be associated with infusion-related reactions. Subcutaneous administration of rituximab may reduce this and facilitate administration without ...