Table 2 Cells in peripheral blood and synovial tissue obtained from patients with rheumatoid arthritis before, 4 and 16 weeks after rituximab treatment

	Before rituximab	4 weeks after rituximab	p Value*	16 weeks after rituximab	p Value†
Blood lymphocytes:
CD19	0.13 (0.09–0.19)	<0.01 (0.00–0.00)	<0.001	<0.01 (0.00–0.00)	<0.001
CD3	1.32 (0.81–1.68)	1.17 (0.90–1.90)	0.78	1.26 (1.00–1.87)	0.49
CD3CD4	0.93 (0.52–1.14)	0.78 (0.63–1.35)	0.64	0.85 (0.69–1.22)	0.66
CD3CD8	0.29 (0.19–0.48)	0.34 (0.20–0.52)	0.51	0.34 (0.22–0.49)	0.38
Cellular markers in synovial tissue:
CD22	38 (3–158)	9 (0–39)	0.002	8 (0–40)	0.015
CD3	249 (119–845)	391 (62–1114)	0.65	130 (44–383)	0.010
CD4	403 (2–1702)	78 (15–1128)	0.92	152 (55–659)	0.068
CD8	8 (0–27)	3 (0–6)	0.67	1 (0–10)	0.048
CD138	137 (58–496)	174 (0–623)	0.71	76 (0–213)	0.48
CD68L	293 (93–502)	148 (66–346)	0.043	133 (18–215)	0.001
CD68SL	548 (134–1076)	434 (88–1291)	0.112	191 (52–563)	0.023
Aggregates	8 (0–32)	4 (0–24)	0.078	1 (0–2)	0.007

CD68+ macrophages were analysed separately in the intimal lining layer (L) and synovial sublining (SL). Values for peripheral blood lymphocytes are median (interquartile range (IQR)) 10⁹/litre, for cellular markers in synovium median (IQR) cells/mm². The total no. of lymphocyte aggregates (aggregates) was counted per section.
*Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired data between baseline and week 4. †Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired data between baseline and week 16.