Gracia-Tello, B;
Ezeonyeji, A;
Isenberg, D;
(2017)
The use of rituximab in newly diagnosed patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: long-term steroid saving capacity and clinical effectiveness.
Lupus Science & Medicine
, 4
(1)
, Article e000182. 10.1136/lupus-2016-000182.
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Abstract
Background: Previous reports indicate that treating patients with lupus (SLE) at or close to the time of diagnosis successfully without using any, or minimal, corticosteroids by using B-cell depletion (BCD) is possible in the short-term. It is not however known whether using BCD is as effective or reduces corticosteroid use in the long-term. We report the long-term (up to 7 years) use of BCD with respect to its steroid-saving capacity and clinical effectiveness in newly diagnosed SLE. Methods: Sixteen female patients with SLE were treated at, or shortly after diagnosis, with BCD therapy (BCDT) minimising the routine use of oral steroids. Post-treatment, most patients were given hydroxychloroquine (n=14) and azathioprine (n=10). The British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) disease activity index was used for clinical assessment. Serum antidouble-stranded DNA (dsDNA) antibodies, complement (C3), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), circulating B lymphocytes (CD19+) and total inmmunoglobulins were tested every 2–6 months (average of 4.5 years) (SD 2) post-treatment. Disease activity and steroid requirement were compared with three patients with SLE treated conventionally, each matched for ethnicity, sex, age, clinical features, disease duration at diagnosis and follow-up period. Results: All patients given rituximab achieved BCD. The mean number of flares during follow-up (new BILAG A or B) was 2.63 (SD 3) in the BCDT group and 4 (SD 3.6) in the controls (NS, p=0.14). Post-BCDT, mean anti-dsDNA antibody level fell from 1114 U/mL (SD 1699.3) to 194 (SD 346.7) at 18 months (p=0.043), mean serum ESR fell by >70% at 6 months maintained during follow-up and serum C3 level normalised in 8 patients. The mean cumulative prednisolone dose at 60 months for the patients who underwent BCDT (n=11) was 4745.67 mg (SD 6090 mg) vs 12 553.92 mg (SD 12 672 mg) for the controls (p=0.01). Conclusions: Early treatment of patients with SLE with BCDT is safe, effective and enables a reduction in steroid use.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The use of rituximab in newly diagnosed patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: long-term steroid saving capacity and clinical effectiveness |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/lupus-2016-000182 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/lupus-2016-000182 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine > Inflammation |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1542295 |
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