Abstract
N-(2-carboxyphenyl)-4-chloroanthranilic acid disodium salt (CCA) was used as an immunomodulator to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the correlation between clinical effects and various immunological parameters was studied. Thirteen patients with classical or definite RA were treated orally with CCA, 240mg/day.
Before treatment, the peripheral blood lymphocytes of the RA patients showed a low response to Con A or PHA stimulation in vitro, and an increased number of Tγ cells. After treatment for more than 4 weeks with CCA, Con A and PHA response were increased and Tγ cell counts were decreased. PPD skin test was also augmented in almost half of the patients treated with CCA.
The clinical effects of CCA were not necessarily accompanied with improvement of PPD skin test and Con A or PHA response. In effective cases, however, immunological parameters examined were deviated than those of ineffective cases, and the effective cases were clinically more active. It suggests that CCA might act as an immunomodulator on the cases more deviated in these immunological parameters.
