Abstract
Serum total sulfhydryl level (SH-level) was determined in 285 cases of rheumatoid arthritis and other allied diseases and of healthy subjects. The SH-level was within the normal limits in 28 of 33 cases of rheumatoid arthritis. However, it was slightly lower than that of the controls. The SH-level was subnormal in the remaining 5 cases. These 5 cases showed high titer of rheumatoid factors and an increase in the amount of IgM. The results suggest that the formation of macroglobulin, particularly that of rheumatoid factor is related to a decrease of SH-level. When L-cysteine was injected into the joint cavity of a patient, IgM disappeared temporarily from the synovial fluid at 30min and 3hr. Glutathione had not such an effect. Thus, different SH-compounds seem to exert different effects on the organism.
