Personalized Rituximab Treatment Based on Artificial Intelligence in Membranous Nephropathy (iRITUX)

NCT ID: NCT06341205

Last Updated: 2025-09-11

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

PHASE3

Total Enrollment

120 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-02-04

Study Completion Date

2031-09-30

Brief Summary

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Membranous nephropathy is an autoimmune disease affecting the kidney, and the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in non-diabetic Caucasian adults. The course of this disease is highly variable from one individual to another, ranging from spontaneous remission to progressive chronic kidney disease.

The identification of autoantibodies - e.g., the phospholipase A2 receptor type 1 (PLA2R1) - has promoted the use of immunosuppressive drugs such as rituximab which is now a safe and effective first-line treatment for the management of membranous nephropathy. However, up to 40% of patients do not respond to a first course of rituximab treatment. In nephrotic patients, due to urinary drug loss, rituximab blood level is lower than in other autoimmune diseases treated with rituximab without proteinuria. This high urinary drug loss decreases the drug exposure, potentially explaining why rituximab regimen with low dose infusions (375 mg/m2) did not demonstrate efficacy after month-6 compared to a non-immunosuppressive antiproteinuric treatment in a previous study. In contrast, a regimen of two 1-g infusions two weeks apart was associated with a significantly greater remission rate after 6 months.

Recently, the investigators have shown that after two 1-g rituximab infusions, the rituximab blood level 3 months after the first rituximab infusion, was correlated with the likelihood of remission after 6 and 12 months of the rituximab treatment. Patients with positive rituximab blood level 3 months after treatment had a higher chance of remission at month-6 and at month-12 than patients with an undetectable rituximab level at month-3.

Nowadays, machine learning algorithms are increasingly used in medicine, especially in pharmacology, to predict the exposure to a drug, the initial dose to administer or the interval between two infusions.

The objective of this study is to use a machine learning algorithm predicting the risk of having an undetectable residual level of rituximab 3 months after treatment, in order to propose a personalized treatment management with early additional doses of rituximab for the patients at risk.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Membranous Nephropathy

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Standard-of-care

rituximab treatment 1gram x 2 (day-0, day-15)

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

RiTUXimab Injection

Intervention Type DRUG

Dose administered will depend on randomisation and for experimental Arm on the risk of having undetectable rituximab level after 3 months

Personalised treatment

personalized treatment based on the algorithm for assessing the risk of having undetectable rituximab level after 3 months:

* Patients with a risk between 0 and 50% will receive 1gram x2 (day-0, day-15)
* Patients with a risk between 51 and 75% will receive 1gram x 3 (day-0, day-15, day-30)
* Patients with a risk between 76 and 100% will receive 1gram x 4 (day-0, day-15, day-30, day-45)

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

RiTUXimab Injection

Intervention Type DRUG

Dose administered will depend on randomisation and for experimental Arm on the risk of having undetectable rituximab level after 3 months

Interventions

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RiTUXimab Injection

Dose administered will depend on randomisation and for experimental Arm on the risk of having undetectable rituximab level after 3 months

Intervention Type DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age ≥ 18 years
* Ongoing episode of membranous nephropathy diagnosed by the presence of anti-PLA2R1 antibodies detected by ELISA (≥ 14 RU/ml, EUROIMMUN): the result must be validated by the Coordination team before randomization.
* Nephrotic syndrome defined by proteinuria \> 3.5 g/24h (or UPCR \> 3.5 g/g) and serum albumin \< 30 g/L at diagnosis
* Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (CKD-EPI formula) \> 30 mL/min/1,73 m2
* Indication for rituximab treatment according to the KDIGO and French guidelines
* Non-immunosuppressive antiproteinuric treatment at stable dose for 2 weeks according to French guidelines, including a renin angiotensin aldosterone system inhibitor, a diuretic and a low-salt diet at maximal tolerated dose (i.e., absence of orthostatic hypotension and no increase in creatinine \> 30%)

Exclusion Criteria

* Secondary Membranous nephropathy related to cancer, infection, systemic lupus, drug
* Diagnosis of PLA2R1-associated Membranous nephropathy not confirmed by the Coordination team (validation mandatory for randomization)
* Pregnancy or breastfeeding
* Immunosuppressive treatment (including rituximab) in the 6 months preceding inclusion
* Presence of anti-rituximab antibodies detected by Central Lab
* Cancer under treatment
* Patients with active, severe infections
* Hypersensitivity to the active substance or excipients
* Patients severely immunocompromised
* Severe heart failure or severe, uncontrolled cardiac disease
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Locations

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CHU de BESANCON

Besançon, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

CHU de BORDEAUX - Hôpital Pellegrin

Bordeaux, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

CHU de CAEN

Caen, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

AP-HP - Hôpital H. Mondor

Créteil, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

HCL - Hôpital E. Herriot

Lyon, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

AP-HM - Hôpital de la Conception

Marseille, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

CHU de NICE

Nice, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

CHU de Nîmes - Hôpital CAREMEAU

Nîmes, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

AP-HP - Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou

Paris, , France

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

AP-HP - Hôpital Necker

Paris, , France

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

CHU de TOULOUSE - Hôpital Rangueil

Toulouse, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

CHRU de TOURS - Hôpital Bretonneau

Tours, , France

Site Status RECRUITING

CH de Valenciennes

Valenciennes, , France

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Countries

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France

Central Contacts

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Barbara SEITZ-POLSKI, MD, PhD

Role: CONTACT

+33492038828

Céline FERNANDEZ

Role: CONTACT

+33492038828

Facility Contacts

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Céline FERNANDEZ

Role: primary

0492038828

References

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Teisseyre M, Destere A, Cremoni M, Zorzi K, Brglez V, Benito S, Bailly L, Fernandez C, Seitz-Polski B. Artificial intelligence-based personalised rituximab treatment protocol in membranous nephropathy (iRITUX): protocol for a multicentre randomised control trial. BMJ Open. 2025 Apr 2;15(4):e093920. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-093920.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 40180405 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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22-APN-01

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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