{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T11:11:58Z","timestamp":1779275518251,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"44","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,31]],"date-time":"2025-10-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761868800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,31]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of low-dose rituximab (RTX) in patients with acetylcholine receptor antibody (AChR-Ab)-positive ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG). This was a single-center retrospective observational study that included 9 patients with AChR-Ab-positive OMG who received low-dose RTX treatment (200\u2009mg, once every 6 months to 1 year) between January 2023 and January 2024. Evaluation indicators included MGFA-PIS status, MG-ARS score, Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Score, peripheral blood B-cell levels (CD19+), corticosteroid usage, and adverse events at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months before and after treatment. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for statistical analysis, with Z-values and effect size r calculated. A\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                    -value\u2005&lt;\u2005.05 was considered statistically significant. All patients showed varying degrees of clinical improvement within the 12-month follow-up period. MGFA-PIS indicated complete remission in 5 cases (55.6%), pharmacologic remission in 3 cases (33.3%), and improvement in 1 case (11.1%). The median MG-ARS score decreased significantly from 10 at baseline to 0 at 12 months (Z\u2005=\u20052.71,\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2005&lt;\u2005.001); the median Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Score decreased from 4 to 0 (Z\u2005=\u20051.36,\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2005&lt;\u2005.001). Eight patients reduced corticosteroid use by 100%, and one patient by 83.3%. The percentage of peripheral B cells significantly decreased from 0.1543% at baseline to 0.0103% (Z\u2005=\u2005\u22122.52,\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2005=\u2005.0078); absolute B-cell count decreased from 303.0\/\u03bcL to 16.5\/\u03bcL (Z\u2005=\u2005\u22122.49,\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2005=\u2005.0078). Ptosis resolved within 2 to 8 weeks in 66.7% of patients; diplopia was less common and took longer to resolve. No serious adverse reactions were observed, and treatment was well tolerated. Low-dose rituximab demonstrates good clinical efficacy and safety in AChR antibody-positive OMG patients, effectively alleviating symptoms, reducing corticosteroid dependence, and sustainably suppressing B-cell activity through targeted depletion and functional exhaustion of B cells, thereby interrupting the antibody-mediated autoimmune response. This treatment offers a feasible and well-tolerated immunotherapeutic option for OMG patients and warrants further prospective validation with larger sample sizes.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1097\/md.0000000000045346","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T17:02:35Z","timestamp":1763571755000},"page":"e45346","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Low-dose rituximab in AChR antibody-positive ocular myasthenia gravis: Efficacy and safety\u2014A preliminary study"],"prefix":"10.1097","volume":"104","author":[{"given":"Baoyi","family":"Mao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Yuncheng Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rui","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Yuncheng Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaoling","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Yuncheng Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Doudou","family":"Ping","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, Yuncheng Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yanan","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, Yuncheng Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China."}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-3446-189X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liangxia","family":"Ning","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Yuncheng Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"276","reference":[{"key":"R1-20260520","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jns.2009.03.020","article-title":"MuSK-antibody-positive myasthenia gravis in a South Asian population.","volume":"284","author":"Chang","year":"2009","journal-title":"J Neurol Sci"},{"key":"R2-20260520","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"131","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jns.2003.08.017","article-title":"The effect of prednisone on the progression from ocular to generalized myasthenia 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