Effect of using rituximab on disability in patients with multiple sclerosis

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of using Rituximab (RTX) on MS progression during follow-up. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system. This study was conducted in 24 MS patients in Ilam City were treated with rituximab were included in the study (after obtaining the approval of the ethics committee in university research). After referring to the attending physician, 500 mg of RTX drug was prescribed according to the protocol. The second RTX dose (500 mg) was injected two weeks later, and then 1000 mg per six months. The data collection tool included demographic information and the Disability Status Scale (EDSS), which was completed for patients through interviews and during clinical examinations. Moreover, patients were followed up for 2 years and cases related to any complications, disability score, presence of active lesions in MRI and other clinical results were recorded. Data analysis was done using SPSS ver. 16 software. The results showed that RTX had reduced the disability score in patients of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) groups. Likewise, concerning the RTX effect in reducing the disability score, a decrease in the number of plaques was observed in 83.3% of patients, and there was no change in the number of plaques in 16.7% of patients. The plaque count was reduced in the studied population by 6.15% on average, which was significant according to the paired T-test (P 0.001). Concerning the positive effect of RTX on reducing the EDSS score of patients, it is recommended to prescribe this drug for MS patients.