1967 Volume 79 Issue 11-12 Pages 975-988
For the purpose to study characteristic traits of the Synovial fluid and the blood of chronic rheumatoid arthritis, the present investigation was conducted by means of the fluorescence-antibody method using the cells of the synovial fluid and the leucocytes of blood obtained from rheumatoid arthritic patients. The results of the study are briefly presented as follows.
1) It was demonstrated that specific fluorescence appears in the fine granules of the cytoplasm of polynuclear leucocytes of the synovial fluid and circulating blood.
2) In the case of synovial fluid fluorescence was positive in 34 cases out of the 51 of rheumatoid arthritic patients and in the case of blood it was positive in 25 cases out of the 68 rheumatoid arthritic patients.
3) There was observed a definite correlation between the fluorescence, the reaction to RA (rheumatoid arthritis) test and the number of nucleated cells of the synovial fluid.
4) Those rheumatoid arthritic patients of Follicular type showing small round cells in a follicular mass in the histological picture of the synovial membrane revealed a more marked fluorescence of the synovial fluid.
5) The fluorescence-antibody double staining method demonstrated that the rheumatoid factor in the leucocytes was located at macroglobulin 22S in circulating blood, both at macroglobulin 19S and 7S γ-globulin in the Synovia flluid, and occasionally it was located only at 7S γ-globulin.
