Rituximab can help patients with Graves' eye disease

Rituximab, which is presently being used for treatment of autoimmune diseases, may also prove its worth when it comes to treating Graves' eye disease.

Raymond S. Douglas, M.D., Ph.D., an oculoplastics specialist who recently joined the faculty of the U-M Kellogg Eye Center, remarked on the potential of this drug in the online October issue of Ophthalmology.

It was noticed that inflammation around the eyes and damage to the optic nerve got minimized to a considerable extent when the drug rituximab was administered to the affected patients.

From News-Medical.Net:

Graves' eye disease is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and fatty deposits in the eye muscles and connective tissue surrounding the eye. Among the symptoms are pronounced bulging eyes, retracted eyelids, dry eyes, and, in severe cases, loss of vision. Women are more likely than men to develop the disease.

The study suggests that rituximab is a potentially effective new treatment for the most severe forms of Graves' eye disease. "These patients had already received the maximum level of steroid treatment," says Douglas. "Treatment with rituximab calmed inflammation, stopped progression of the disease, and saved the patients from having to undergo surgery."

Rituximab has been used to treat patients with other autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and in non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphoma. The drug works by depleting B cells-the body's normal antibody-producing cells-that appear to go awry in autoimmune diseases.

Douglas was hopeful of the fact that rituximab can provide sustain improvements and offer a point in continuing with proceeding with a large-scale clinical trial to test the promising drug. It was however remarked that high doses of steroids may still be the first line treatment in a combination with orbital radiation.