Efficacy and Safety of New B Cell-Targeted Biologic Agent for the Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Gómez Urquiza, José Luis Romero Béjar, José Luis Chami-Peña, Sara Suleiman-Martos, Nora Cañadas-De La Fuente, Guillermo A. Molina, Esther Riquelme Gallego, Blanca systemic lupus erythematosus safety biologic treatment efficacy meta-analysis Background: B cells are central to the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We aimed to analyze the efficacy and safety of new B cell-targeted drug therapies for SLE. Methods: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and reference lists of relevant articles published from inception to 2022 were selected from PubMed, Scopus andWeb of Science databases. Random effects meta-analyses were performed to estimate an overall effect size for the risk of adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs) with belimumab and tabalumab treatment. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic and meta-regression. Funnel asymmetry was evaluated using Egger’s test. Results: This study included 13 RCTs, of which three showed high risk of bias. Egger’s test showed no asymmetry. The risk of SAEs and AEs was lower in the treatment group with belimumab treatment. The risk of AEs for tabalumab treatment was lower in the treatment group and lower for SAEs. Conclusion: Belimumab and tabalumab therapies are effective and safe in the treatment of SLE, although tabalumab does not show sufficient statistical power. Advances in understanding the underlying mechanisms of SLE will be directed towards correlating clinical manifestations with specific pathogenic pathways and the development of precision medicine. 2024-04-29T06:46:07Z 2024-04-29T06:46:07Z 2023-07-23 journal article Gómez-Urquiza, J.L.; Romero-Bejar, J.L.; Chami-Peña, S.; Suleiman-Martos, N.; Cañadas-De la Fuente, G.A.; Molina, E.; Riquelme-Gallego, B. Efficacy and Safety of New B Cell-Targeted Biologic Agent for the Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Systematic Review andMeta-Analysis. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 4848. https:// doi.org/10.3390/jcm12144848 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/91209 https:// doi.org/10.3390/jcm12144848 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional MDPI