Obinutuzumab induced stronger effects than rituximab.
a, b PBMCs from GPA patients were treated with soluble antibodies like in Fig.
3. Experiments with PBMCs without relevant amounts of B cells (< 1% of PBL,
n = 9) are depicted separately. > 1% of PBL,
n = 15.
a CD16 expression on NK cells from an example donor; this donor is characterized by an open circle in
b.
b As MFI values strongly varied between donors, data were normalized to the sample w/o antibody and logarithmized (change log) in order to simplify comparisons. RTX had a significant effect only in PBMCs with > 1% B cells (Wilcoxon test,
p < 0.0001).
c–e Using corresponding methods, PBMCs from healthy donors were cultured with either INX and RTX (
n = 16,
d) or RTX and obinutuzumab (OBI) (
n = 7,
e).
c Example CD16 expression; this donor is characterized by an open circle in
e.
d, e Wilcoxon tests revealed significant differences (
p < 0.0001 and
p = 0.0156, respectively).
f, g PBMCs from five rituximab-naive GPA patients were cultured overnight with RTX or OBI. In addition, IgG1 containing abatacept (ABA) was used as control.
f B cell percentages.
g Degranulation and expression of activation markers on NK cells. Geometric means after gating on NK cells are shown.
p values determined by Friedman tests for B cells (
f), CD107a, CD69, and CD16 (
g) were < 0.0001, = 0.0002, = 0.0006, and < 0.0001 respectively. Significant post tests as indicated