Table 3.
Studies reporting on patients with Behçet's disease treated with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (rituximab).
| First author (reference, year) | N pts | Main BD clinical and laboratory features | HLA-B51 | Previous biologic agents and causes of withdrawal | Dosage and eventual cotherapies | Followup | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sadreddini (2008) [58] | 1 | Mucosal involvement, arthritis, posterior uveitis, retinal vasculitis, and chronic renal failure (of unknown origin) | NR | ETN: ADR (fever, urticaria, macular rushes, angioedema, transient new lymphopenia, and positive antinuclear antibody test) | RTX 1 g every two weeks for two doses + PDN 1 mg/kg/day | 24 months | CR of retinal vasculitis within few months and PDN was tapered to 5 g/day |
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| Davatchi (2010) [59] | 10 | Mucosal, ocular, and articular involvement; skin manifestations | NR | None | RTX 1 g every two weeks for two doses + PDN 0.5 mg/kg/day + MTX 15 mg/week | 6 months | Improvement of ocular manifestations after 6 months. TADAI significant improvement on RTX. VA improved in two patients, remained unchanged in 1, and worsened in 7. Significant improvement of retinal, disc, and macular oedema in all patients |
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| Zhao (2014) [60] | 1 | Fever, mucosal involvement, arthritis, EN, leukocytoclastic vasculitis, increase of CRP | NR | IFX: inefficacy; ETN: acute mononeuritis multiplex |
RTX 1 g every two weeks for two doses + PDN 15 mg/day + MTX 20 mg/week + colchicine | 12 months | CR after the 3rd infusion; improved clinical control of disease activity and reduction in steroids requirements (PDN tapered to 8 mg/day) |
ADR: adverse reactions; BD: Behçet's disease; CR: complete remission; CRP: C-reactive protein; EN: erythema nodosum; ETN: etanercept; HLA: human leukocyte antigen; IFX: infliximab; MTX: methotrexate; N: number; NR: not reported; pts: patients; PDN: prednisone; RTX: rituximab; TADAI: total adjusted disease activity index; VA: visual acuity.