Reduction of fatigue in Sjogren syndrome with rituximab: results of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. - Dass S - Ann Rheum Dis - 01-NOV-2008; 67(11): 1541-4 (MEDLINE is the source for the citation and abstract of this record )
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: Primary Sjogren syndrome (pSS) causes significant systemic symptoms including fatigue as well as glandular dysfunction. There are currently no effective systemic therapies; however, open label series have suggested that rituximab may be beneficial for systemic and glandular manifestations. Therefore, we performed a double blind, placebo-controlled, randomised pilot study of the efficacy of rituximab in reducing fatigue in pSS. METHODS: A total of 17 patients with pSS and a score on fatigue visual analogue scale (VAS) >50 were randomised to receive either 2 infusions of rituximab 1 g or placebo; patients also received oral and intravenous steroids. Outcome measures included: the proportion of patients with >20% reduction in fatigue VAS, changes in pSS related symptoms, health related quality of life and immunological parameters of pSS. These were measured 6 months after therapy. RESULTS: There was significant improvement from baseline in fatigue VAS in the rituximab group (p<0.001) in contrast to the placebo group (p = 0.147). There was a significant difference between the groups at 6 months in the social functioning score of SF-36 (p = 0.01) and a trend to significant difference in the mental health domain score of SF-36 (p = 0.06). There was one episode of serum sickness in the rituximab treated group. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first double blind study of rituximab in pSS to show benefit; further studies are justified.
Citation:
Reduction of fatigue in Sjogren syndrome with rituximab: results of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. Dass S - Ann Rheum Dis - 01-NOV-2008; 67(11): 1541-4. MEDLINE is the source for the citation and abstract of this record. NLM Citation ID: 18276741 (PubMed ID). Full Source Title: Annals of the rheumatic diseases. Publication Type: Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't. Language: English. Author Affiliation: Academic Unit of Musculoskeletal Disease, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Authors:
Dass S; Bowman SJ; Vital EM; Ikeda K; Pease CT; Hamburger J; Richards A; Rauz S; Emery P
It works for me when I can go long enough between infections to get both doses in. Had a dose in late Nov., haven't had the chance to get the second dose since then because of bronchitis, bronchitis, ear infection, bronchitis. Hope to finally get the next infusion in about a week if I can stay healthy.
Tracy
Maria, I appreciated your information, but I am thinking that it is against some publishing rules to copy verbatitum any published articles. Some of the moderators may come on and mention this. It really is hard to remember about this.
Also, my doc is talking about doing the Rituxan IV therapy on me but I doubt if I can tolerate it with my low t-cells. This therapy knocks out the b-cells which have the ability to replentish. The b cells are the ones that are a very active participant in the formation of antigens which are the part of the blood that trys to kill off the tissues/organs of people with autoimmune disease. Basically, limits the formation of the antigens which in turn makes one feel better and helps save organs/systems. Irish ;D
Irish,
I have extremely low T-cells, Primary immune def, chronic systemic yeast, and I was able to tolerate it ok. I didnt feel much better though, but everyone is
soooo different. Im actually going to try it again later next month. I havent had it again in over a year. I was just reading an article where it didnt really help lupus patients either?
Wish they would come up with something for us Auto-immunies.....
Gursie
gurs, I think it is hard to know what drug is going to help us. When we have these darn low t-cells there are very few options for us and Rituxan (or a cousin drug) is one that is not supposed to affect the t-cells. I know that as the months and years go by there will be more meds out there for people like us. Good luck Irish ;D