Rituximab in Active Ulcerative Colitis

Summary

There is broad support for the hypothesis that Ulcerative colitis is an auto-immune disease. Rituximab is an antibody protein that removes a subgroup of white blood cells (B lymphocytes) from the circulation. These cells have the capacity to generate the auto-antibodies that typify auto-immune disease. Although Rituximab has been mainly used for treating B lymphocyte malignancies (lymphoma) it has also been used with promising results in Rheumatoid arthritis and has an excellent safety record. This is a small placebo-controlled trial to assess its efficacy and safety in patients with steroid-resistant active ulcerative colitis.

Timeline

Start

2004-04

Primary completion

2009-08

Completion

2009-10

Publications

• Background Quinton JF, Sendid B, Reumaux D, Duthilleul P, Cortot A, Grandbastien B, Charrier G, Targan SR, Colombel JF, Poulain D. Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae mannan antibodies combined with antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies in inflammatory bowel disease: prevalence and diagnostic role. Gut. 1998 Jun;42(6):788-91. doi: 10.1136/gut.42.6.788.
• Background Xiao H, Heeringa P, Hu P, Liu Z, Zhao M, Aratani Y, Maeda N, Falk RJ, Jennette JC. Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies specific for myeloperoxidase cause glomerulonephritis and vasculitis in mice. J Clin Invest. 2002 Oct;110(7):955-63. doi: 10.1172/JCI15918.
• Background Inoue N, Watanabe M, Sato T, Okazawa A, Yamazaki M, Kanai T, Ogata H, Iwao Y, Ishii H, Hibi T. Restricted V(H) gene usage in lamina propria B cells producing anticolon antibody from patients with ulcerative colitis. Gastroenterology. 2001 Jul;121(1):15-23. doi: 10.1053/gast.2001.25477.
• Background Hibi T, Ohara M, Kobayashi K, Brown WR, Toda K, Takaishi H, Hosoda Y, Hayashi A, Iwao Y, Watanabe M, et al. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoprecipitation studies on anti-goblet cell antibody using a mucin producing cell line in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Gut. 1994 Feb;35(2):224-30. doi: 10.1136/gut.35.2.224.
• Background Monteleone I, Vavassori P, Biancone L, Monteleone G, Pallone F. Immunoregulation in the gut: success and failures in human disease. Gut. 2002 May;50 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):III60-4. doi: 10.1136/gut.50.suppl_3.iii60.
• Background Maloney DG, Liles TM, Czerwinski DK, Waldichuk C, Rosenberg J, Grillo-Lopez A, Levy R. Phase I clinical trial using escalating single-dose infusion of chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (IDEC-C2B8) in patients with recurrent B-cell lymphoma. Blood. 1994 Oct 15;84(8):2457-66.
• Background McLaughlin P, Grillo-Lopez AJ, Link BK, Levy R, Czuczman MS, Williams ME, Heyman MR, Bence-Bruckler I, White CA, Cabanillas F, Jain V, Ho AD, Lister J, Wey K, Shen D, Dallaire BK. Rituximab chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy for relapsed indolent lymphoma: half of patients respond to a four-dose treatment program. J Clin Oncol. 1998 Aug;16(8):2825-33. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1998.16.8.2825.
• Background Coiffier B, Lepage E, Briere J, Herbrecht R, Tilly H, Bouabdallah R, Morel P, Van Den Neste E, Salles G, Gaulard P, Reyes F, Lederlin P, Gisselbrecht C. CHOP chemotherapy plus rituximab compared with CHOP alone in elderly patients with diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jan 24;346(4):235-42. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa011795.
• Background Leandro MJ, Edwards JC, Cambridge G. Clinical outcome in 22 patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with B lymphocyte depletion. Ann Rheum Dis. 2002 Oct;61(10):883-8. doi: 10.1136/ard.61.10.883.
• Background De Vita S, Zaja F, Sacco S, De Candia A, Fanin R, Ferraccioli G. Efficacy of selective B cell blockade in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: evidence for a pathogenetic role of B cells. Arthritis Rheum. 2002 Aug;46(8):2029-33. doi: 10.1002/art.10467.
• Background Arzoo K, Sadeghi S, Liebman HA. Treatment of refractory antibody mediated autoimmune disorders with an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (rituximab). Ann Rheum Dis. 2002 Oct;61(10):922-4. doi: 10.1136/ard.61.10.922.
• Background Looney RJ. Treating human autoimmune disease by depleting B cells. Ann Rheum Dis. 2002 Oct;61(10):863-6. doi: 10.1136/ard.61.10.863. No abstract available.
• Background Stasi R, Pagano A, Stipa E, Amadori S. Rituximab chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody treatment for adults with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Blood. 2001 Aug 15;98(4):952-7. doi: 10.1182/blood.v98.4.952.
• Background Specks U, Fervenza FC, McDonald TJ, Hogan MC. Response of Wegener's granulomatosis to anti-CD20 chimeric monoclonal antibody therapy. Arthritis Rheum. 2001 Dec;44(12):2836-40. doi: 10.1002/1529-0131(200112)44:123.0.co;2-w.
• Background Patel DD. B cell-ablative therapy for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Arthritis Rheum. 2002 Aug;46(8):1984-5. doi: 10.1002/art.10476. No abstract available.
• Background Remuzzi G, Chiurchiu C, Abbate M, Brusegan V, Bontempelli M, Ruggenenti P. Rituximab for idiopathic membranous nephropathy. Lancet. 2002 Sep 21;360(9337):923-4. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11042-7.
• Background Leandro MJ, Edwards JC, Cambridge G, Ehrenstein MR, Isenberg DA. An open study of B lymphocyte depletion in systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Rheum. 2002 Oct;46(10):2673-7. doi: 10.1002/art.10541.
• Background Cohen RD, Stein R, Hanauer SB. Intravenous cyclosporin in ulcerative colitis: a five-year experience. Am J Gastroenterol. 1999 Jun;94(6):1587-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.1999.01149.x.
• Background Stack WA, Long RG, Hawkey CJ. Short- and long-term outcome of patients treated with cyclosporin for severe acute ulcerative colitis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1998 Oct;12(10):973-8. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2036.1998.00396.x.
• Background Papadakis KA, Rosenbloom B, Targan SR. Anti-CD2O chimeric monoclonal antibody (rituximab) treatment of immune-mediated thrombocytopenia associated with Crohn's disease. Gastroenterology. 2003 Feb;124(2):583. doi: 10.1053/gast.2003.50081. No abstract available.
• Background Schroeder KW, Tremaine WJ, Ilstrup DM. Coated oral 5-aminosalicylic acid therapy for mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis. A randomized study. N Engl J Med. 1987 Dec 24;317(26):1625-9. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198712243172603.
• Background Guyatt G, Mitchell A, Irvine EJ, Singer J, Williams N, Goodacre R, Tompkins C. A new measure of health status for clinical trials in inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology. 1989 Mar;96(3):804-10.
• Leiper K, Martin K, Ellis A, Subramanian S, Watson AJ, Christmas SE, Howarth D, Campbell F, Rhodes JM. Randomised placebo-controlled trial of rituximab (anti-CD20) in active ulcerative colitis. Gut. 2011 Nov;60(11):1520-6. doi: 10.1136/gut.2010.225482. Epub 2011 Apr 6.

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Indications