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Updated: Sep 1, 2025

The bm12 Inducible Model of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus SLE in C57BL/6 Mice
Published on: November 1, 2015
Rituximab as maintenance therapy following remission induction in relapsing or refractory systemic lupus
Xiaochan Chen1, Xiaowei Shi1,2, Han Xue3
1Department of Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine.
Objective:
To investigate the efficacy and safety of rituximab (RTX) maintenance therapy compared with traditional immunosuppressive agent (ISA) maintenance therapy in patients with relapsing or refractory SLE.
Methods:
It is a prospective observational non-randomized cohort study. The study enrolled SLE patients in four centres who had received at least one course of RTX induction treatment. Patients with a clinical response to RTX were divided into two groups based on their maintenance therapy in the first 12 months: the RTX group and the ISA group. The relapse-free survival times were compared between the two groups. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify predictive factors for disease relapse.
Results:
Among the 82 patients included in the cohort, 67 (81.7%) patients had a clinical response at 6 months. RTX maintenance therapy was applied in 34 (50.7%) patients and ISA maintenance therapy was applied in the remaining 33 (49.3%) patients. After a median follow-up of 24 months, a total of 13 (19.4%) patients had experienced disease relapse, comprising three in the RTX group and 10 in the ISA group. Patients in the RTX group had a higher relapse-free survival rate than patients in the ISA group. Multivariate analysis identified hydroxychloroquine use, RTX maintenance therapy and haematological system involvement as independent predictors for sustained remission.
Conclusion:
This multicentre prospective cohort study demonstrated that long-term RTX maintenance therapy has high efficacy and acceptable safety in relapsing or refractory SLE patients who had a clinical response to RTX induction therapy.
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