title: B-cell targeting in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
abstract: B-cell-targeted therapy for autoimmune disease emerged from theoretical proposition to practical reality between 1997 and 1998, with the availability of the B-cell-depleting monoclonal antibody rituximab. Since then, a score of autoantibody-associated disorders have been treated, with most convincing evidence of efficacy seen in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. Several classes of B-cell-targeted agent are now under investigation. From the outset, a major goal of B-cell targeting has been the re-establishment of some form of immunological tolerance. In some subjects, the observed improvement of disease for years following therapy fuels hope that this goal might ultimately be achievable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University College London, 46 Cleveland Street, London W1P 6DB, UK. jo.edwards@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jonathan C W
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cambridge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans