Effects of rituximab treatment on the serum concentrations of vitamin D and interleukins 2, 6, 7, and 10 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with active RA before treatment with rituximab

Characteristics	n = 45
Gender ratio (M:F)	1.1:3.4
Age (years)
Mean ± SD	48.9 ± 1.78
Range	(25–78)
Age at onset (years)
Mean ± SD	36.6 ±11.4
Range	(14–70)
RA duration (months)
Median (interquartile)	120
Range	(6–336)
Treatment
Prednisolone (%)	20.7
DMARDs (%)
One	62.1
≥2	13.8
Previous anti-TNF (%)
1 anti-TNF	41.3
2 anti-TNFs	26.1
3 anti-TNFs	6.5

Abbreviations: RA, rheumatoid arthritis; M, male; F, Female; SD, standard deviation; DMARDs, disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.

Table 2 Clinical and laboratory parameters in patients with RA before and after treatment with rituximab

Parameter	Before treatment	After treatment	P value
DAS-28	6.28 ± 0.24	3.84 ± 0.30	0.001
HAQ	2.89 ± 0.83	1.52 ± 0.61	0.05
Mean serum RF	721.84 ± 51.5	93.32 ± 30.3	0.001
Mean ESR (mm/hr)	35.5 ± 5.21	18 ± 6.35	0.001
Mean serum CRP (mg/dL)	27.21 ± 3.76	11.54 ± 1.92	0.001
Mean serum anti-CCP (U/mL)	563.34 ± 93.64	350.75 ± 113.25	0.001

Abbreviations: RA, rheumatoid arthritis; DAS, disease activity score; HAQ, health assessment questionnaire; RF, rheumatoid factor; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP, C-reactive protein; anti-CCP, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide.

Figure 1 Scatter plot of vitamin D in patients with rheumatoid arthritis before and after treatment with rituximab.

Table 3 Serum concentrations of vitamin D, IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, and IL-10 in patients with RA before and after treatment with rituximab

Analyte	Before treatment (mean ± SD)	After treatment (mean ± SD)	P value
Serum vitamin D (nmol/L)	15.35 ± 1.09	16.75 ± 1.2	0.39
Serum IL-2 (pg/mL)	52.56 ± 6.29	8.77 ± 1.81	0.0001
Serum IL-6 (pg/mL)	34.56 ± 5.01	21.32 ± 2.99	0.01
Serum IL-7 (pg/mL)	146.63 ± 9.23	68.71 ± 11.63	0.001
Serum IL-10 (pg/mL)	32.26 ± 6.01	17.21 ± 2.84	0.01

Abbreviations: IL, interleukin; RA, rheumatoid artritis; SD, standard deviation.

Table 4 Association among serum vitamin D concentration and serum ILs in patients with RA before treatment with rituximab

Serum ILs	Associations with serum vitamin D	Comments
IL-2	r = 0.05 P = 0.75	No significant association
IL-6	r = 0.036 P = 0.82	No significant association
IL-7	r = −0.003 P = 0.98	No significant association
IL-10	r = −0.03 P = 0.85	No significant association

Abbreviations: IL, interleukin; RA, rheumatoid arthritis.