Efficacy and safety of rituximab in patients with lupus nephritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Background: Our aim was to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of rituximab (RTX) in patients with lupus nephritis (LN).

Materials and methods: PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Cochrane Library, and Wanfang Databases were searched to collect literature on the efficacy and safety of RTX in patients with LN. Odds ratios (ORs), weighted mean differences (WMDs), and standardized mean differences (SMDs) were used to represent treatment efficacy and overall outcome. The outcomes included complete renal remission rate, proteinuria, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) scores, serum creatinine, any adverse events and serious adverse events. We explored the heterogeneity with I² and assessed publication bias with funnel plot and Egger's test.

Results: Nine studies involving 723 patients (254 in the RTX group and 469 in the control group) were included in our systematic review and meta-analysis. RTX resulted in a higher complete renal remission rate (OR: 2.62; 95% CI 1.43 - 4.79, p = 0.024, I² = 54.7%) than the control group. It significantly decreased SLEDAI scores (WMD = -3.79, 95% CI: -5.78 to -1.8, p < 0.001, I² = 94.7%) as well as proteinuria (WMD = -0.9, 95% CI: -1.6 to -0.2, p < 0.001, I² = 97.6%). There were no significant differences in any adverse events and serious adverse events between the RTX group and control group.

Conclusion: RTX was an effective therapeutic agent in patients with LN, and it did not increase the risk of adverse events compared to the control group.