Rituximab is an injectable monoclonal antibody that depletes B lymphocytes (CD20+); it is increasingly used in autoimmune diseases, including myasthenia.
A Spanish study confirmed its clinical efficacy in 30 adult patients.
- The authors emphasize the risk of hypogammaglobulinemia after treatment.
Another multicenter study conducted in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, and Germany focused on pediatric forms (JMG for Juvenile Myasthenia Gravis) treated with rittuximab.
- The results of 10 treated children or adolescents were analyzed.
- The clinical efficacy was confirmed at the cost of some immuno-allergic skin reactions.
In both articles, the authors insist on the need to reserve this background treatment for moderate to severe forms of refractory myasthenia.
