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Rapid decrease of serum surfactant protein‐D levels predicts the reactivity of rituximab therapy in systemic sclerosis‐associated interstitial lung disease
Author(s) -
Ebata Satoshi,
Yoshizaki Ayumi,
Fukasawa Takemichi,
Asano Yoshihide,
Oba Koji,
Sato Shinichi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/1346-8138.15379
Subject(s) - medicine , rituximab , interstitial lung disease , vital capacity , gastroenterology , scleroderma (fungus) , idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis , lung , immunology , fibrosis , antibody , diffusing capacity , lung function , inoculation
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by vascular damage and excessive fibrosis. SSc‐associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a leading cause of death in SSc. Several studies have shown the efficacy of rituximab (RTX) in SSc‐ILD, but no study has examined the relation between RTX reactivity and change of serum marker levels. In this study we examined the relation between change of serum surfactant protein‐D (SP‐D) levels and change of percentage forced vital capacity (FVC) in 11 SSc‐ILD patients with anti‐topoisomerase I antibody treated by RTX. Serum SP‐D levels were significantly decreased compared with baseline at 2 weeks after first RTX infusion in good responders ( P = 0.04), while not in poor responders ( P = 0.77). Moreover, ΔSP‐D at 2 weeks negatively correlated with Δ%FVC at 24 weeks ( P = 0.001). In conclusion, we suggested that the rapid decrease of SP‐D levels may be a predictive marker of RTX effect against SSc‐ILD.