B-cell depletion in autoimmune diseases. Advances in autoimmunity

Renato Guzman Moreno1

  • 1Internal Medicine Department, Saludcoop Clinic, Bogota, Colombia. renatoguzman@cable.net.co

Autoimmunity Reviews
|April 28, 2009
PubMed

B cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of the autoimmune diseases. New advances in biological therapy provided a correct way in the management of these pathologies. Depletion of B cells with monoclonal antibodies reach an important place in the control of the diseases. I will present our experience with rituximab in the treatment of 131 patients with different autoimmune conditions, and conclude that this kind of therapy is safe, effective and constitutes a big step in the control of the majority of patients in which humoral response were aberrant. It is one of the many avenues that will allow to have a better future in the assessment and treatment of autoimmune diseases.

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