{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,2]],"date-time":"2025-10-02T00:46:33Z","timestamp":1759365993166,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759276800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.mdpi.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: To determine the frequency of development of hypogammaglobulinemia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving rituximab (RTX) and to examine the relation between the development of hypogammaglobulinemia and RTX treatment response. Methods: The data of 165 RA patients who applied to our outpatient clinic between January 2010 and June 2021, and who received at least 2 courses of RTX with an interval of 6 months, were retrospectively evaluated. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory data, as well as treatment characteristics, were collected. Results: Of 165 patients, 35 (21.2%) developed hypogammaglobulinemia. In the multivariable analysis examining the risk factors for the development of hypogammaglobulinemia in RA patients receiving RTX, it was determined that having pre-treatment IgG value below 10.5 g\/l (OR= 4.24 (95% CI 1.69\u201310.66) and the increase in the number of RTX courses (OR= 1.1 (95% CI 1.01\u20131.22) were independently associated risk factors. During their follow-up, patients who developed hypogammaglobulinemia and those who did not were compared. No difference was observed between DAS28-ESR levels, but CRP levels were significantly lower in the group that developed hypogammaglobulinemia. Conclusions: In this study, there was no difference in DAS28-ESR levels between patients with and without hypogammaglobulinemia, although a difference was observed in acute phase reactants, which are more objective parameters. This may be due to subjective parameters in DAS28-ESR scoring or other concomitant conditions such as fibromyalgia. Therefore, additional objective findings or methods may guide the evaluation of treatment response.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14196967","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T12:22:03Z","timestamp":1759321323000},"page":"6967","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Is the Development of Hypo-Gammaglobulinemia Associated with Better Treatment Response in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Using Rituximab?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3619-476X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emine Gozde","family":"Aydemir Guloksuz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5401-5599","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Serdar","family":"Sezer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3558-5400","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Didem","family":"Sahin Eroglu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9042-9668","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sevgi","family":"Colak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ayse Bahar","family":"Kelesoglu Dincer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5998-6703","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mucteba Enes","family":"Yayla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4717-3000","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emine","family":"Uslu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mehmet Levent","family":"Yuksel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Recep","family":"Yilmaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elif Sinem","family":"Ates","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Tuebingen, 72074 Tubingen, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tahsin Murat","family":"Turgay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gulay","family":"Kinikli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Askin","family":"Ates","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ankara University Medical School, 06620 Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1093\/rheumatology\/40.2.205","article-title":"Sustained improvement in rheumatoid arthritis following a protocol designed to deplete B 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Rheumatol."}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/14\/19\/6967\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T12:28:11Z","timestamp":1759321691000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/14\/19\/6967"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"19","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]}},"alternative-id":["jcm14196967"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcm14196967","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0383"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0383","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]]}}}