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Preliminary Study on Acupuncture Combined with Grain-sized Moxibustion for Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis with Finger Joint Pain
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[Rituximab (MabThera) as treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis]

Daniel El Fassi1, Claus Henrik Nielsen, Klaus Bendtzen

  • 1H:S Rigshospitalet, Institut for Inflammationsforskning, Finsencentret, og Odense Universitetshospital, Endokrinologisk Afdeling M.

Ugeskrift for Laeger
|December 1, 2006
PubMed

Rituximab (RTX) is a murine/human monoclonal antibody to CD20, a protein expressed almost exclusively on human B-lymphocytes. RTX induces rapid and marked B-cell depletion with beneficial clinical effects in 1/3 to 1/2 of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Treatment is given as two iv. infusions with a two-week interval and in combination with methotrexate. Mild to moderate side-effects are frequent, particularly during the first infusion, but long-term side-effects are generally rare, although pulmonary events and reactivation of viral infections of the liver is of concern.

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