Use of rituximab in muscle-specific tyrosine kinase antibody-positive myasthenia gravis: Preliminary observations from a tertiary care center in Northern India

OBJECTIVES: Approximately 10%-15% of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) are refractory to standard treatment. A sizable chunk of these patients is due to muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) antibody-positive MG which often runs a severe course with frequent relapses and poor response to convent...

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Published in:Indian journal of pharmacology 2020-01, Vol.52 (1), p.49-52
Main Authors: Sachdeva, Julie, Mahesh, Karthik, Shree, Ritu, Jain, Gaurav, Kapila, Aastha, Shashikala, Tirulapati, Goyal, Manoj, Modi, Manish, Lal, Vivek
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibodies
Antineoplastic agents
Dosage and administration
Drug therapy
Dysphagia
Dyspnea
Fever
Health aspects
Immunoglobulins
Immunotherapy
Monoclonal antibodies
Myasthenia gravis
Patients
Phenols (Class of compounds)
Phosphotransferases
Plasma
Rituximab
Short Communication
Steroids
Tyrosine
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Summary:OBJECTIVES: Approximately 10%-15% of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) are refractory to standard treatment. A sizable chunk of these patients is due to muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) antibody-positive MG which often runs a severe course with frequent relapses and poor response to conventional treatment. We report six patients with refractory MuSK-positive MG who responded well to the treatment with rituximab. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective institute-based observational study, we report six MuSK antibody-positive MG patients, who did not achieve remission with standard treatment and were later started on rituximab infusion. RESULTS: There was a significant clinical improvement in all patients after starting rituximab. CONCLUSION: Rituximab is an effective immunomodulatory therapy in MuSK antibody-positive MG patients who are not responding to the standard treatment.
ISSN:0253-7613
1998-3751
DOI:10.4103/ijp.IJP_333_18