Table 2.
Serological characteristics of rheumatoid arthirits patients prior to and following rituximab treatment
| Bone marrow | Peripheral blood | ||||
| Baseline | 1 month | 3 months | Baseline | 3 months | |
| WBC, 106/ml | 20.5 ± 12.6 | 17.5 ± 6.5 | 24.2 ± 15.9 | 6.8 ± 3.0 | 7.1 ± 3.2 |
| CD19+, % | 5.6 ± 3.7 | 1.1 ± 0.9** | 1.6 ± 1.3** | 12.2 ± 6.4 | 0*** |
| CD3+, % | 28.3 ± 12.7 | 36.2 ± 14.3 | 22.7 ± 6.2 | 46.9 ± 16.2 | 42.8 ± 13.9 |
| CD138+, % | 0.83 ± 0.56 | 0.70 ± 0.47 | 0.73 ± 0.51 | - | - |
| ELISPOT, 106 lymphocytes/ml | |||||
| IgG | 11073 ± 11363 | 10574 ± 8414 | 7703 ± 7451 | 1504 ± 3383 | 427 ± 800 |
| IgM | 8163 ± 8448 | 5922 ± 5492** | 4058 ± 6833 | 2013 ± 7070 | 123 ± 223 |
| IgA | 6009 ± 4628 | 7010 ± 6345 | 5122 ± 4015 | 1280 ± 2743 | 471 ± 1094 |
| RF, U/ml | |||||
| IgG | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | 50 ± 31 | 34 ± 26*** |
| IgM | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | 78 ± 31 | 64 ± 49** |
| IgA | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | 37 ± 28 | 30 ± 25** |
| Total Igs, mg/L | |||||
| IgG | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | 13 ± 4.5 | 12.3 ± 4.2*** |
| IgM | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | 1.9 ± 1.2 | 1.6 ± 1.1** |
| IgA | Not assessed | Not assessed | Not assessed | 3.6 ± 1.8 | 3.0 ± 1.3 |
* P ≤ 0.05; ** P ≤ 0.01; *** P ≤ 0.001.
Values are given as mean ± standard deviation.
Ig = immunoglobulin; RF = rheumatoid factor; WBC = white blood cell.