Fig. 4.

Serum concentrations of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) in RA patients, assessed by ELISA technique. Patients were treated with rituximab (1,000 mg) on weeks 0, 2, 24 and 26. Blood samples were obtained on weeks 0, 2, 24 prior to infusion of rituximab, and on weeks 12, 36 and 52. Box plots represent median (line), 25th and 75th percentiles (box), and 10th and 90th percentiles (whiskers). Significance of differences between pre-infusion MMP-1 values on week 0 and following weeks was expressed as: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01