Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1976 Oct;35(5):458–462. doi: 10.1136/ard.35.5.458

Effect of penicillamine therapy on circulating immune complexes in rheumatoid arthritis

Idris Mohammed 1, D Barraclough 1, E J Holborow 1, Barbara M Ansell 1
PMCID: PMC1006581  PMID: 1086655

Abstract

Mohammed, I., Barraclough, D., Holborow, E. J., and Ansell, B. M. (1976).Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 35, 458-462. Effect of penicillamine therapy on circulating immune complexes in rheumatoid arthritis. The sera of 40 patients with severe progressive rheumatoid arthritis were examined for the presence of soluble immune complexes before penicillamine therapy was started, and again after treatment for a mean period of 14·4 months. The methods used were radiobioassay (macrophage uptake), Clq-binding capacity, and precipitation by 4% polyethylene glycol.

Before treatment the sera of 37 patients showed significantly enhanced uptake of 125I-labelled aggregated human IgG by guinea pig macrophages. Treatment produced significant falls in mean erythrocyte sedimentation rate, differential agglutination titre, and serum IgG and IgM levels, and enhancing complexes (EC) decreased or disappeared in 20 patients. In 9 patients EC changed to inhibiting complexes, and in 8 EC levels were unchanged. In 6 of 8 patients with cutaneous vasculitis initially, both lesions and EC disappeared. The total protein and the IgG and IgM precipitated from patients' sera by 4% polyethylene glycol fell significantly on treatment. Antinuclear antibody titres were unchanged by penicillamine, and 3 patients acquired these antibodies during treatment.

These findings suggest that penicillamine treatment in rheumatoid arthritis reduces the level of circulating soluble immune complexes in which IgM rheumatoid factor is a component.

Full text

PDF
458

Selected References

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

  1. Bluestone R., Goldberg L. S. Effect of D-penicillamine on serum immunoglobulins and rheumatoid factor. Ann Rheum Dis. 1973 Jan;32(1):50–52. doi: 10.1136/ard.32.1.50. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Creighton W. D., Lambert P. H., Miescher P. A. Detection of antibodies and soluble antigen-antibody complexes by precipitation with polyethylene glycol. J Immunol. 1973 Oct;111(4):1219–1227. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dawkins R. L., Zilko P. J., Owen E. T. Letter: Penicillamine therapy, antistriational antibody, and myasthenia gravis. Br Med J. 1975 Dec 27;4(5999):759–760. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5999.759-c. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Harpey J. P., Caille B., Moulias R., Goust J. M. Lupus-like syndrome induced by D-penicillamine in Wilson's disease. Lancet. 1971 Feb 6;1(7693):292–292. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(71)91022-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Huskisson E. C., Gibson T. J., Balme H. W., Berry H., Burry H. C., Grahame R., Hart F. D., Henderson D. R., Wojtulewski J. A. Trial comparing D-penicillamine and gold in rheumatoid arthritis. Preliminary report. Ann Rheum Dis. 1974 Nov;33(6):532–535. doi: 10.1136/ard.33.6.532. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. JAFFE I. A. RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS WITH ARTERITIS; REPORT OF A CASE TREATED WITH PENICILLAMINE. Ann Intern Med. 1964 Sep;61:556–563. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-61-3-556. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mancini G., Carbonara A. O., Heremans J. F. Immunochemical quantitation of antigens by single radial immunodiffusion. Immunochemistry. 1965 Sep;2(3):235–254. doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(65)90004-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Onyewotu I. I., Holborow E. J., Johnson G. D. Detection and radioassay of soluble circulating immune complexes using guinea pig peritoneal exudate cells. Nature. 1974 Mar 8;248(5444):156–159. doi: 10.1038/248156a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Onyewotu I. I., Johnson P. M., Johnson G. D., Holborow E. J. Enhanced uptake by guinea-pig macrophages of radio-iodinated human aggregated immunoglobulin G in the presence of sera from rheumatoid patients with cutaneous vasculitis. Clin Exp Immunol. 1975 Feb;19(2):267–280. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. PLOTZ C. M., SINGER J. M. The latex fixation test. I. Application to the serologic diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Am J Med. 1956 Dec;21(6):888–892. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. ROPES M. W., BENNETT G. A., COBB S., JACOX R., JESSAR R. A. 1958 Revision of diagnostic criteria for rheumatoid arthritis. Bull Rheum Dis. 1958 Dec;9(4):175–176. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Zubler R. H., Lange G., Lambert P. H., Miescher P. A. Detection of immune complexes in unheated sera by modified 125I-Clq binding test. Effect of heating on the binding of Clq by immune complexes and application of the test to systemic lupus erythematosus. J Immunol. 1976 Jan;116(1):232–235. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES