{"id":1255,"date":"2026-01-24T08:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T08:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/2026\/01\/24\/the-effect-of-rituximab-on-il-6sil-6r-and-cxcl10-secretion-and-tsh-receptor-stimulating-antibodies-i\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T08:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T08:35:20","slug":"the-effect-of-rituximab-on-il-6sil-6r-and-cxcl10-secretion-and-tsh-receptor-stimulating-antibodies-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/2026\/01\/24\/the-effect-of-rituximab-on-il-6sil-6r-and-cxcl10-secretion-and-tsh-receptor-stimulating-antibodies-i\/","title":{"rendered":"THE EFFECT OF RITUXIMAB ON IL-6\/SIL-6R AND CXCL10 SECRETION AND TSH-RECEPTOR STIMULATING ANTIBODIES IN PATIENTS WITH ACTIVE THYROID-ASSOCIATED ORBITOPATHY"},"content":{"rendered":"
Vannucchi G.1<\/sup>, Campi I.1<\/sup>, Bonomi M.1<\/sup>, Covelli D.2<\/sup>, Dazzi D.2<\/sup>, Currò N.2<\/sup>, Bonara P.2<\/sup>, Persani L.1<\/sup>, Beck-Peccoz P.1<\/sup>, Salvi M.1<\/sup><\/div>\n
1<\/sup>Dept. of Medical Sciences, University of Milan, 1st. Auxologico Italiano IRCCS and Fondazione Ospedale Policlinico IRCCS, Milano, 2<\/sup>Ophthalmology, Internal Medicine, University of Milan<\/div>\n
\n

Abstract<\/h2>\n

Circulating proinflammatory cytokines and CXCL10 have been reported to be elevated in active thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO). We have previously successfully treated with rituximab (RTX) patients with active TAO. CD20+ cell depletion did not correlate to TRAb. To study possible mechanisms of action of RTX, serum concentrations of IL-6, of IL-6 soluble receptor (sIL-6R) and of CXCL10 were measured. Changes of the TSH receptor stimulation antibodies (TSAb) were also evaluated. Out of 23 patients with active TAO, 9 were treated with RTX and 14 with i.v. steroids. We measured serum thyroid hormones and autoantibodies concentrations and peripheral blood lymphocytes. TAO activity was assessed by the clinical activity score (CAS). RTX was administered according to a standard protocol (1000 mg i.v. x 2) and methylprednisolone 500 mg i.v. for 16 weeks. Serum cytokines were measured by sensitive assays (Quantikine, R&D Systems, USA) at baseline, at CD20+ depletion, and 30 and 50 weeks from therapy. TSAb serum activity was tested in a CHO-TSHR stable cell line. Cells were incubated with 5% serum in hypotonic medium and cAMP accumulation was determined by RIA. Mean basal (±SD) serum IL-6 and sIL-6R concentrations were 30.6±83.6, 578.6±172.7 pg\/ml and 9.4±17.6, 478.2±132.3 pg\/ml in patients treated with RTX and steroids, respectively and did not change after either therapy or in relation to CD20+ depletion (P=n.s.). Serum CXCL10 concentrations were significantly increased at 30 weeks after RTX (P<0.03) but not after steroids, when compared to baseline. Serum TSAb did not change after either RTX or steroid therapy and significantly correlated with serum TRAb concentrations (p<0.0001).
In conclusion, 1) IL-6\/sIL-6R system is not affected by RTX; 2) serum CXCL10 concentration were unexpectedly elevated after RTX, despite TAO becoming inactive and patients euthyroid after therapy; 3) the effect of RTX on serum TSAb is not different from that on TRAb.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vannucchi G.1, Campi I.1, Bonomi M.1, Covelli D.2, Dazzi D.2, Currò N.2, Bonara P.2, Persani L.1, Beck-Peccoz P.1, Salvi M.1 1Dept. of Medical Sciences, University of Milan, 1st. Auxologico Italiano IRCCS and Fondazione Ospedale Policlinico IRCCS, Milano, 2Ophthalmology, Internal Medicine, University of Milan Abstract Circulating proinflammatory cytokines and CXCL10 have been reported to be elevated Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,2,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-volume-7-issue-3","category-journal-articles","category-volume-7"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceful-mccarthy.213-158-90-25.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}