Does Rituxan focus on a certain part of your body or your entire body?

This information below tells you how Rituxan works ... and yes, its effects will be on the entire body. You can't say that it works on a certain part of your body.

Mechanism of Action

Rituximab binds specifically to the antigen CD20 (human B-lymphocyte-restricted differentiation antigen, Bp35), a hydrophobic transmembrane protein with a molecular weight of approximately 35 kD located on pre‑B and mature B lymphocytes. The antigen is expressed on >90% of B‑cell non‑Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL), but the antigen is not found on hematopoietic stem cells, pro-B-cells, normal plasma cells or other normal tissues. CD20 regulates an early step(s) in the activation process for cell cycle initiation and differentiation, and possibly functions as a calcium ion channel. CD20 is not shed from the cell surface and does not internalize upon antibody binding. Free CD20 antigen is not found in the circulation.

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Mechanism of Action: The Fab domain of rituximab binds to the CD20 antigen on B lymphocytes, and the Fc domain recruits immune effector functions to mediate B-cell lysis in vitro. Possible mechanisms of cell lysis include complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and antibody‑dependent cell‑mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). The antibody has been shown to induce apoptosis in the DHL-4 human B-cell lymphoma line.

Normal Tissue Cross-reactivity: Rituximab binding was observed on lymphoid cells in the thymus, the white pulp of the spleen, and a majority of B lymphocytes in peripheral blood and lymph nodes. Little or no binding was observed in the non-lymphoid tissues examined.observed in the non-lymphoid.

http://www.drugs.com/pro/rituxan.html

http://www.drugs.com/pro/rituxan.html tissues examined.