Bone marrow B-lineage cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis following rituximab therapy

Abstract

In this small cohort of RA patients treated with rituximab, differences in proportion and phenotype of CD19+ BM cells were detected. These differences suggest variation in the degree of depletion achieved and correlate with time to relapse. Although pro-B-cells are not targeted directly by rituximab as they do not express CD20, the levels were unexpectedly low.