Disease activity and joint damage progression in early rheumatoid arthritis: relation to IgG, IgA, and IgM rheumatoid factor
Article Abstract:
In autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the body makes immunoglobulins (Igs, antibodies) against its own tissues or molecules. The diagnosis of RA is aided by the presence of certain Igs with particular activity, called rheumatoid factors (RFs), and RFs may belong to one of three Ig subclasses, IgG, IgA, and IgM. It would be desirable to assess the prognosis of RA early in the disease to facilitate therapeutic decisions. The levels of different types of Ig RFs in RA may possibly correlate with severity of disease, and this was assessed in 68 patients with early RA over a two-year period. More than half of the blood samples contained a mixture of IgG, IgA, and IgM RFs, and approximately 15 percent contained IgA plus IgM RFs. The levels of IgA and IgM RFs decreased during the study, but that of IgG did not. Levels of IgG correlated significantly with scores of joint damage after two years, and levels of IgM RF correlated with an indicator of inflammation, but other associations between Ig levels and disease activities were poor. The results suggest that changes in IgG RF levels follow a progression of joint damage. Thus RFs may reflect damage that has already occurred rather than participating in the disease process, and are of little value in evaluating patients with RA. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1990
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Defective repair of O6-methylguanine-DNA in primary Sjogren's syndrome patients predisposed to lymphoma
Article Abstract:
Patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (PSS) may not only experience this autoimmune disorder but also have an increased risk of developing lymphoma due to defective repair of O6-methylguanine, a component of DNA. A study of patients with PSS, rheumatoid arthritis, primary biliary cirrhosis, osteoarthritis, and healthy people found defects in the repairing methyltransferase enzyme only in the PSS patients. O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) levels were lower in PSS patients with parotid gland enlargement, which indicates proliferation of white blood cells. The defective repair of O6-methylguanine due to low MGMT levels may cause lymphoid cells to be at risk of malignant transformation because aged O6-methylguanine remains.
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1995
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