Are you M Schumann?  Claim your profile  Publications (1)2.51
Total impact    • [show abstract] [hide abstract]     ABSTRACT:
The role of B cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been well
established with the advent of B-cell targeted therapies.
Alterations of peripheral B-cell subsets in RA and heterogeneous
modulations of the B-cell compartment under tumour necrosis
factor (TNF) inhibition have been described. In this study we
examined the influence of rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity on
the peripheral B-cell compartment and its modulation under TNF
blockade. Consecutive patients with RA and inadequate response
to methotrexate (MTX) were stratified according to RF status and
a subset of them was included in a prospective study of weekly
etanercept treatment. At baseline, RF-negative patients had a
significant higher percentage of overall CD27+ B cells compared
to healthy controls (HC) and RF-positive patients. In detail,
RF-negative patients had 46.6% (range 15.7-86.8%) CD27+ B cells
compared to 31.3% (12