Figure 1

Serum cytokine levels at B-cell-related time points. Left panels: levels of (a) BAFF and (b) APRIL in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at baseline (n = 10), depletion (n = 8), repopulation (n = 7), and recovery (n = 9). A significant increase compared with baseline was observed in BAFF at depletion (p < 0.01) and at repopulation (p < 0.05). In APRIL, a significant decrease (p < 0.05) occurred at depletion compared with baseline. Left panels: levels of (c) BAFF and (d) APRIL in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at baseline (n = 9), depletion (n = 8), and 6 months after infusion (n = 5). There was a significant increase (p < 0.01) in BAFF levels at depletion compared with baseline. Middle panels: longitudinal levels of BAFF and APRIL in patients with (a, b) SLE and (c, d) RA; each line corresponds to a different patient. The y-axis has the same scale as the axis in the box-plots. Right panels: relative changes compared with baseline of BAFF and APRIL in patients with (a, b) SLE and (c, d) RA. Relative change = sample X/baseline sample. The grey bar on the y-axis illustrates the level in healthy controls (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01). APRIL, a proliferation-inducing ligand; BAFF, B-cell activation factor of the tumour necrosis factor family.