Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1983 Feb;42(1):2–13. doi: 10.1136/ard.42.1.2

Chronic arthritis associated with the presence of intrasynovial rubella virus.

R Grahame, R Armstrong, N Simmons, J M Wilton, M Dyson, R Laurent, R Millis, C A Mims
PMCID: PMC1001051  PMID: 6830322

Abstract

In this report we present 21 instances in which live rubella virus was isolated from synovial fluid obtained from 6 cases of inflammatory oligoarthritis or polyarthritis over a period of 2 years in the absence of firm clinical evidence of rubella. In 3 cases (cases 1, 2, 6,) a persistent oligoarthritis predominantly affecting the knee joints occurred in 2 adult women and one man, lasting to date 27, 29, and 18 months respectively, and in one of these cases virions were found in cells of the synovial membrane. In case 3 a boy of 9 presented with an illness indistinguishable from the systemic variety of juvenile chronic arthritis (Still's disease). In case 4 a young man with persistent monoarthritis was found to have ankylosing spondylitis, and in case 5 a progressive erosive polyarthritis developed 5 years after an attack of rubella complicated by rubella arthritis. The virus was identified by a variety of virological techniques and infection confirmed by immunofluorescence and (in one case) electron microscopy.

Full text

PDF
2

Images in this article

3Image
on p.3
4Image
on p.4
7Image
on p.7
8Image
on p.8
9Image
on p.9
10Image
on p.10

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barnett E. V., Balduzzi P., Vaughan J. H., Morgan H. R. Search for infectious agents in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1966 Oct;9(5):720–724. doi: 10.1002/art.1780090509. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CHAMBERS R. J., BYWATERS E. G. RUBELLA SYNOVITIS. Ann Rheum Dis. 1963 Jul;22:263–268. doi: 10.1136/ard.22.4.263. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chandler R. W., Robinson H., Masi A. T. Serological investigations for evidence of an infectious aetiology of rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1971 May;30(3):274–278. doi: 10.1136/ard.30.3.274. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cremer N. E., Hurwitz D., Quismorio F. P., Lennette E. H., Friou G. J. Antiviral antibodies in rheumatoid synovial fluid and cryoprecipitates. Clin Exp Immunol. 1974 Sep;18(1):27–37. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ford D. K., Oh J. O. Use of "synovial" cell cultures in the search for virus in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1965 Dec;8(6):1047–1052. doi: 10.1002/art.1780080604. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Grahame R., Armstrong R., Simmons N. A., Mims C. A., Wilton J. M., Laurent R. Isolation of rubella virus from synovial fluid in five cases of seronegative arthritis. Lancet. 1981 Sep 26;2(8248):649–651. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90993-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Grayzel A. I., Beck C. Rubella infection of synovial cells and the resistance of cells derived from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. J Exp Med. 1970 Feb;131(2):367–375. doi: 10.1084/jem.131.2.367. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hart H., Marmion B. P. Rubella virus and rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1977 Feb;36(1):3–12. doi: 10.1136/ard.36.1.3. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Heggie A. D., Robbins F. C. Natural rubella acquired after birth. Clinical features and complications. Am J Dis Child. 1969 Jul;118(1):12–17. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1969.02100040014003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hildebrandt H. M., Maassab H. F. Rubella synovitis in a one-year-old patient. N Engl J Med. 1966 Jun 23;274(25):1428–1430. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196606232742507. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Holmes I. H., Wark M. C., Warburton M. F. Is rubella an arbovirus? II. Ultrastructural morphology and development. Virology. 1969 Jan;37(1):15–25. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(69)90301-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Laitinen O., Vesikari T., Vaheri A. Virus antibody levels in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Acta Med Scand. 1972 Jul-Aug;192(1-2):37–40. doi: 10.1111/j.0954-6820.1972.tb04775.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Martenis T. W., Bland J. H., Phillips C. A. Rheumatoid arthritis after rubella. Arthritis Rheum. 1968 Oct;11(5):683–687. doi: 10.1002/art.1780110511. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. McCormick J. N., Duthie J. J., Gerber H., Hart H., Baker S., Marmion B. P. Rheumatoid polyarthritis after rubella. Ann Rheum Dis. 1978 Jun;37(3):266–272. doi: 10.1136/ard.37.3.266. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Middleton P. J., Highton T. C. Failure to show mycoplasmas and cytopathogenic virus in rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1975 Aug;34(4):369–372. doi: 10.1136/ard.34.4.369. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Ogra P. L., Chiba Y., Ogra S. S., Dzierba J. L., Herd J. K. Rubella-virus infection in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet. 1975 May 24;1(7917):1157–1161. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)93136-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ogra P. L., Herd J. K. Arthritis associated with induced rubella infection. J Immunol. 1971 Sep;107(3):810–813. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Rawls W. E. Congenital rubella: the significance of virus persistence. Prog Med Virol. 1968;10:238–285. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Schnitzer T. J., Ansell B. M., Hawkins G. T., Marshall W. C. Significance of rubella virus infection in juvenile chronic polyarthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1977 Oct;36(5):468–470. doi: 10.1136/ard.36.5.468. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Smith C., Hamerman D. Significance of persistent differences between normal and rheumatoid synovial membrane cells in culture. Arthritis Rheum. 1969 Dec;12(6):639–645. doi: 10.1002/art.1780120612. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Smith M. F., Haycock G. B., Grahame R. Rubella and juvenile chronic arthritis. Arch Dis Child. 1981 Apr;56(4):310–311. doi: 10.1136/adc.56.4.310. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Spruance S. L., Smith C. B. Joint complications associated with derivatives of HPV-77 rubella virus vaccine. Am J Dis Child. 1971 Aug;122(2):105–111. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1971.02110020039002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Swartz T. A., Klingberg W., Goldwasser R. A., Klingberg M. A., Goldblum N., Hilleman M. R. Clinical manifestations, according to age, among females given HPV-77 duck rubella vaccine. Am J Epidemiol. 1971 Sep;94(3):246–251. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121318. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Weibel R. E., Stokes J., Jr, Buynak E. B., Hilleman M. R. Rubella vaccination in adult females. N Engl J Med. 1969 Mar 27;280(13):682–685. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196903272801302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Wilkes R. M., Simsarian J. P., Hopps H. E., Roth H., Decker J. L., Aptekar R. G., Meyer H. M., Jr Virologic studies on rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1973 Jul-Aug;16(4):446–454. doi: 10.1002/art.1780160403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Zvaifler N. J. The immunopathology of joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. Adv Immunol. 1973;16(0):265–336. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2776(08)60299-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES