Rituximab Downregulates Gene Expression Associated with Cell Proliferation, Survival, and Proteolysis in the Peripheral Blood from Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: A Link between High Baseline Autophagy-Related ULK1 Expression and Improved Pain Control

Figure 3

Protein concentrations of phospho-p70-S6K (a), p21 (b), active caspase 3 (c), and MMP-9 (d) measured using ELISA in PBMCs from RA patients () compared to controls (). Asterisks () indicate significant differences from the healthy control patients in pairwise comparisons (Mann-Whitney test). The number signs () show significant differences from baseline in pairwise comparisons (Wilcoxon matched pairs test).

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