Rituximab for membranous nephropathy and immune disease: less might be enough

Studies have shown that rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody that targets the CD20 antigen of B cells, might be a valuable alternative to current therapies for idiopathic membranous nephropathy. In this Viewpoint article, Ruggenenti and colleagues discuss the use of rituximab in idiopathic membranous nephropathy and reason that titrating rituximab therapy to CD20+cell counts might be an effective way of limiting patient exposure to rituximab without reducing the efficacy of treatment, and would also substantially reduce treatment costs.