Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, China.
Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, China.
J Neuroimmunol. 2018 Apr 15;317:1-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2018.02.004. Epub 2018 Feb 6.
Rituximab has been effectively used for treating neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) for several years. However those regimens exert a heavy burden on Chinese patients. The aim of our study was to investigate an effectiveness, economic alternatives of RTX. The enrolled patients received different immunosuppressant drugs. Annual relapse rate (ARR), neurological disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale, EDSS), time to the next relapse were evaluated after treatments. Fourteen patients treated with RTX and 37 relapse events from 23 patients treated with traditional immunosuppressant drugs (ISDs) were analyzed in our study. Patients with NMOSD treated with RTX showed a reduction in ARR (2.0 ± 1.8 to 0.2 ± 0.3, p = 0.002) and improve disability (EDSS: 3.7 ± 2.1 to 2.3 ± 2.3, p < 0.001) at last follow-up. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients treated with RTX had a longer time to next relapse compared with those who were treated with traditional ISDs. Our regimens of RTX treatment were effective in NMOSD patients, and exerted a lower risk of adverse events might be lower than did the high-dose RTX regimens. Moreover, our regimen provides an economic and convenient alternative for NMOSD patients.
利妥昔单抗已成功用于治疗视神经脊髓炎谱系疾病（NMOSD）多年。然而，这些方案给中国患者带来了沉重的负担。本研究旨在探讨 RTX 的有效性和经济替代方案。入组患者接受了不同的免疫抑制剂治疗。治疗后评估年复发率（ARR）、神经功能障碍（扩展残疾状况量表，EDSS）、下一次复发时间。本研究分析了 14 例接受 RTX 治疗的患者和 23 例接受传统免疫抑制剂（ISD）治疗的患者中的 37 次复发事件。接受 RTX 治疗的 NMOSD 患者的 ARR 降低（2.0±1.8 至 0.2±0.3，p=0.002），残疾改善（EDSS：3.7±2.1 至 2.3±2.3，p<0.001）。Kaplan-Meier 分析表明，与接受传统 ISD 治疗的患者相比，接受 RTX 治疗的患者下一次复发的时间更长。我们的 RTX 治疗方案对 NMOSD 患者有效，且不良反应风险可能低于高剂量 RTX 方案。此外，我们的方案为 NMOSD 患者提供了一种经济便捷的替代方案。
