The effect of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (rituximab) which is used on patients with active romatoid artrits on immune system cells

Romatoid Artrits (RA), is one of the common autoimmune diseases which affects 1 % of the world population. It has been shown with various studies that the changes in peripheral blood immune system of the patients with RA is associated with the diagnosis of the disease compared to the healthy individuals and that as a result of this the response to the treatment has also changed.In our study, we analyzed the patients with active RA and insufficient response to standard treatments and thus eligible to receive treatment with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (rituximab). We analyzed blood samples of the patients and healthy controls before the treatment and 3 months after to see the changes in molecular expressions of CD3 (T cell), CD4 (helper T cell), CD16 (natural killer cell), CD19 (B cell), Breg (regulatory B cell), CD56 (natural killer cell), iNKT (invariant T cell), Treg (regulatory T cell), under flowcytometer. Our results reveals that in B cells (CD19+) and plasma cells (CD19+CD38+) there was a significant decrease however there was not a substantial difference in T cells (CD4+CD25+), CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ (Treg cells), CD19+CDw210+ (Breg cells) and CD3+iNKT+ (invariant iNKT cells). There was a significant decrease in B cells after rituximab treatment compared to the pre-treatment values that shows treatment effect.