Anti-CD20 treatment could be beneficial for treatment of patients with refractory lupus nephritis and autoimmune cytopenias.
Therapeutic options are limited for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that is refractory to standard immunosuppressive therapy (typically cyclophosphamide or mycophenolate plus high-dose corticosteroids). Anti-CD20 treatment (rituximab), initially developed for treatment of B-cell lymphomas, has been used successfully to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Because B cells are important in the pathogenesis of SLE, rituximab also has been tested (successfully) in small, uncontrolled studies of refractory SLE.
In this retrospective study, Swedish researchers enrolled 31 lupus patients; 17 had refractory nephritis, 10 had autoantibody-mediated thrombocytopenias, and 4 had hemolytic anemia. All received rituximab in four cons…