Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Arthritis Res Ther. 2003;5 Suppl 4:S17-21. Epub 2003 Oct 2.Click here to read Links

B cell depletion in autoimmune disease.

Gorman C, Leandro M, Isenberg D.

Centre for Rheumatology, The Middlesex Hospital, University College London, UK.

The CD20 cell marker appears early in the process of B cell development. In this review we focus on the results of attempts to utilize B cell depletion based on the use of a chimeric monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific for human CD20, rituximab, for the treatment of patients with autoimmune diseases. In 1997, rituximab was approved for the treatment of low-grade B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Following these encouraging results, rituximab started to be used experimentally in other diseases presumed to be due to B cell pathology. The first autoimmune disease to be treated effectively was chronic idiopathic thrombocytopaenia. More recent success has been demonstrated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

PMID: 15180893 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Patient Drug Information