Baseline serum immunoglobulin levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: relationships with clinical parameters and with B-cell dynamics following rituximab.

Abstract To investigate whether levels of serum immunoglobulins (sIgs) at baseline were associated with clinical parameters or B-cell dynamics following rituximab (RTX) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Baseline Ig levels, C-reactive protein (CRP), DAS28 and CD19+ve B-cell count (baseline, 1, 3 and 5 months) in 112 patients with RA after 1 cycle of RTX were included. All showed adequate B-cell depletion (