Figure 4. CDR3 length and pI before and after rituximab therapy in clinical responders and nonresponders.

Patients showing a clinical improvement after rituximab therapy were classified as clinical responders; patients with stable or worsened disease severity were classified as clinical nonresponders. The same number of individual Igh gene sequences derived from rituximab-treated patients as in Figure 2 were analyzed; results are displayed as pooled data derived from individual sequences. Data points represent individual sequences; horizontal bars and error bars indicate mean ± SEM. The unpaired Student’s t test was used to evaluate Igh characteristics.