IntroductionEvidence from a number of open-label, uncontrolled studies has suggested that rituximab may benefit patients with autoimmune diseases who are refractory to standard-of-care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and clinical outcomes of rituximab in several standard-of-care-refractory autoimmune diseases (within rheumatology, nephrology, dermatology and neurology) other than rheumatoid arthritis or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a real-life clinical setting.MethodsPatients who received rituximab having shown an inadequate response to standard-of-care had their safety and clinical outcomes data retrospectively analysed as part of the German Registry of Autoimmune Diseases. The main outcome measures were safety and clinical response, as judged at the discretion of the investigators.ResultsA total of 370 patients (299 patient-years) with various autoimmune diseases (23.0% with systemic lupus erythematosus, 15.7% antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated granulomatous vasculitides, 15.1% multiple sclerosis and 10.0% pemphigus) from 42 centres received a mean dose of 2,440 mg of rituximab over a median (range) of 194 (180 to 1,407) days. The overall rate of serious infections was 5.3 per 100 patient-years during rituximab therapy. Opportunistic infections were infrequent across the whole study population, and mostly occurred in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. There were 11 deaths (3.0% of patients) after rituximab treatment (mean 11.6 months after first infusion, range 0.8 to 31.3 months), with most of the deaths caused by infections. Overall (n = 293), 13.3% of patients showed no response, 45.1% showed a partial response and 41.6% showed a complete response. Responses were also reflected by reduced use of glucocorticoids and various immunosuppressives during rituximab therapy and follow-up compared with before rituximab. Rituximab generally had a positive effect on patient well-being (physician's visual analogue scale; mean improvement from baseline of 12.1 mm).ConclusionsData from this registry indicate that rituximab is a commonly employed, well-tolerated therapy with potential beneficial effects in standard of care-refractory autoimmune diseases, and support the results from other open-label, uncontrolled studies.

No abstract

Based on our data ejaculation does not affect serum PSA concentration in young men, and there seems to be no physiological relationship between ejaculation and PSA level.

The nephrotoxicity of three platinum (CPL, KP734, KP735) and three ruthenium coordination complexes (KP418, KP692, KP1019) was tested in rats in comparison to cisplatin (CP). Renal functional changes (excretion of water, protein, p‐aminohippurate (PAH) and osmolytes) were not observed after the administration of 10% of the LD50 of the compounds given twice a week for up to 5 weeks. After a relatively high single dose of the substances (50% of the LD50), signs of nephrotoxicity on the day of maximal renal damage decreased in the following order: CP, KP418, CPL, KP734, KP735, KP692 and KP1019. In comparison to CP, proteinuria was significantly lower after the administration of any of the compounds, especially KP692 and KP1019. Neither renal lipid peroxidation (TBARS) nor glutathion status (GSH, GSSG) was affected. In summary, KP735 in the group of platinum complexes and KP1019 in the ruthenium group had the lowest nephrotoxicity. Other investigators have shown that all complexes induced anti‐neoplastic activity under analogous experimental conditions. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The nephrotoxicity of three platinum (CPL, KP734, KP735) and three ruthenium coordination complexes (KP418, KP692, KP1019) was tested in rats in comparison to cisplatin (CP). Renal functional changes (excretion of water, protein, p-aminohippurate (PAH) and osmolytes) were not observed after the administration of 10% of the LD 50 of the compounds given twice a week for up to 5 weeks. After a relatively high single dose of the substances (50% of the LD 50 ), signs of nephrotoxicity on the day of maximal renal damage decreased in the following order: CP, KP418, CPL, KP734, KP735, KP692 and KP1019. In comparison to CP, proteinuria was significantly lower after the administration of any of the compounds, especially KP692 and KP1019. Neither renal lipid peroxidation (TBARS) nor glutathion status (GSH, GSSG) was affected. In summary, KP735 in the group of platinum complexes and KP1019 in the ruthenium group had the lowest nephrotoxicity. Other investigators have shown that all complexes induced anti-neoplastic activity under analogous experimental conditions.