Rheumatology Medical News about Autoimmune disease, B-cell-directed therapies, Rituximab

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B-cell-directed therapies for autoimmune disease
Nature Reviews Rheumatology , 07/13/09

Dörner T et al. - Additional studies of direct and indirect B-cell-directed treatments are needed before any conclusion can be drawn as to the value of this approach in patients with various autoimmune diseases and whether more precisely defined techniques than these are required to target the complex humoral system effectively.

Methods

An investigation of direct and indirect modalities with distinct mechanisms of action to treat moderate-to-severe RA including:
- Anti-CD20 and anti-CD22 therapies, and
- New approaches for blocking members of the TNF cytokine family including B cell activating factor (BAFF) and a proliferation ligand (APRIL)

Results

Clinical experience is most extensive with rituximab- suggests that targeting 'autoimmune' memory B cells is a feasible approach
Although anti-CD20 therapy has only been approved for RA thus far, this approach is valid for other autoimmune diseases as well including:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Sjögren's syndrome
- Vasculitides
- Autoimmune cytopenias, and
- Neurologic and dermatologic autoimmune diseases

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Treatment of pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus
Expert Review of Dermatology, 10/13/09 Relevance Score: 87%%

iTRAQ-based proteomic identification of leucine rich alpha 2 glycoprotein (LRG) as a novel inflammatory biomarker in autoimmune diseases
Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, 11/09/09 Relevance Score: 83%%

New Tool To Accelerate Discovery Of Autoimmune Disease Mechanisms And Therapies
Internet Source, 11/02/09 Relevance Score: 81%%

Rituximab in the Treatment of Thyroid Eye Disease: Science Fiction
Orbit - The International Journal on Orbital Disorders, Oculoplastic and Lacrimal Surgery, 11/12/09 Relevance Score: 80%%

Autologous stem cell transplantation in autoimmune and rheumatic diseases: from the molecular background to clinical applications
Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, 10/06/09 Relevance Score: 80%%