Figure 3

Correlation between the course of the hand-grip muscle strength and the number of B cells. The percentages of hand-grip muscle strength of the two treated patients was measured during the four weekly infusions of rituximab (indicated as I, II, III, IV, respectively) and after 338 (for patient 1) and 223 (for patient 2) days of the first infusion of rituximab. The right and left hand grip muscle strength is expressed as a percentage of the mean values obtained from a group of 16 healthy male subjects, which was considered as a value of 100%, and was regarded as the baseline value of the patient. The correlation between the course of the hand-grip muscle strength and the B cells levels show that the depletion of the B cells corresponds to an increase in the hand-grip muscle force, whereas the hand-grip muscle strength returned to the baseline levels as B cell became reconstituted.