highly significantp<0.0001
A clear and highly significant decrease in the total number of B cells was observed within 4 weeks after treatment in the subjects receiving rituximab (p<0.0001), which was followed by a drop in serum levels of IgA-RF, IgM-RF and IgM, reaching the level of statistical significance (p=0.003, p<0.0001 and p=0.001, respectively) at all time points.