Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Immunology logoLink to Immunology
. 1971 Jun;20(6):1067–1077.

Studies of cryoprecipitates from synovial fluid of rheumatoid patients

A Cracchiolo, L S Goldberg, E V Barnett, R Bluestone
PMCID: PMC1455963  PMID: 4997575

Abstract

Sera and synovial fluids from thirty-seven patients with various types of arthropathy were studied for the presence of cryoprecipitates. The isolated, washed cryoprecipitates were analysed for immunoglobulins, antiglobulins, antinuclear antibody and DNA content. Cryoprecipitates were detected in the synovial fluids, but not in the matched serum specimens of twenty-six subjects, twenty-four of whom had rheumatoid arthritis. The precipitates consisted of either IgG—IgM complexes or IgG alone. Antiglobulin activity was present in the cryoprecipitates from nineteen rheumatoid patients; of these nineteen, fifteen had antiglobulins present in serum and fourteen had antiglobulins in their whole synovial fluids. Antinuclear antibody was detected in the cryoprecipitates from ten rheumatoid patients; only three patients had antinuclear antibodies in serum and/or whole synovial fluid. DNA was demonstrated in three cryoprecipitates and seven whole synovial fluids using an antiserum specific for calf thymus single strand DNA. When the cryoprecipitates were heat-denatured prior to testing, seventeen were shown to contain DNA antigens. The synovial fluids from one patient with Reiter's syndrome and one subject with psoriatic arthropathy also formed cryoprecipitates, but neither contained antiglobulin or antinuclear antibody activity. These observations suggest that the cryoprecipitates in rheumatoid synovial fluids contain several different antibodies and antigens, including antiglobulins, immunoglobulins, antinuclear antibody and DNA. It is postulated that these cryoprecipitates may represent cold insoluble antigen—antibody complexes.

Full text

PDF
1067

Images in this article

1073FIG. 1
on p.1073
1073FIG. 2
on p.1073

Selected References

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

  1. BURTON K. A study of the conditions and mechanism of the diphenylamine reaction for the colorimetric estimation of deoxyribonucleic acid. Biochem J. 1956 Feb;62(2):315–323. doi: 10.1042/bj0620315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baumal R., Broder I. Studies into the occurrence of soluble antigen-antibody complexes in disease. 3. Rheumatoid arthritis and other human diseases. Clin Exp Immunol. 1968 Jul;3(6):555–569. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bluestone R., Cracchiolo A., 3rd, Goldberg L. S., Pearson C. M. Catabolism and synovial transport of rheumatoid factor. Ann Rheum Dis. 1970 Jan;29(1):47–55. doi: 10.1136/ard.29.1.47. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brown D. L., Cooper A. G., Bluestone R. Exchange of IgM and albumin between plasma and synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1969 Nov;28(6):644–651. doi: 10.1136/ard.28.6.644. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Epstein W. V., Tan M., Melmon K. L. Rheumatoid factor and kinin generation. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1969 Dec 10;168(1):173–187. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1969.tb43106.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. HOLLANDER J. L., MCCARTY D. J., Jr, ASTORGA G., CASTRO-MURILLO E. STUDIES ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF RHEUMATOID JOINT INFLAMMATION. I. THE "R.A. CELL" AND A WORKING HYPOTHESIS. Ann Intern Med. 1965 Feb;62:271–280. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-62-2-271. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hanauer L. B., Christian C. L. Studies of cryoproteins in systemic lupus erythematosus. J Clin Invest. 1967 Mar;46(3):400–408. doi: 10.1172/JCI105541. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hannestad K., Mellbye O. J. Rheumatoid factor in synovial effusions: local production and consumption. Clin Exp Immunol. 1967 Jul;2(4):501–509. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hannestad K. Presence of aggregated gamma-G-globulin in certain rheumatoid synovial effusions. Clin Exp Immunol. 1967 Jul;2(4):511–529. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jasin H. E., Ziff M. Immunoglobulin and specific antibody synthesis in a chronic inflammatory focus: antigen-induced synovitis. J Immunol. 1969 Feb;102(2):355–369. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kaplan M. E., Tan E. M. Antinuclear antibodies in infectious mononucleosis. Lancet. 1968 Mar 16;1(7542):561–563. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(68)92831-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. 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]
  13. MASTER R. W. POSSIBLE SYNTHESIS OF POLYRIBONUCLEOTIDES OF KNOWN BASE-TRIPLET SEQUENCES. Nature. 1965 Apr 3;206:93–93. doi: 10.1038/206093b0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mackenzie M. R., Goldberg L. S., Barnett E. V., Fudenberg H. H. Serological heterogeneity of the IgM components of mixed (monoclonal IgM-polyclonal IgG) cryoglobulins. Clin Exp Immunol. 1968 Nov;3(9):931–941. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Meltzer M., Franklin E. C. Cryoglobulins, rheumatoid factors and connective tissue disorders. Arthritis Rheum. 1967 Oct;10(5):489–492. doi: 10.1002/art.1780100513. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Saha A., Sambury S., Smart K., Heiner D. C., Sargent A. U., Rose B. Studies on cryoprecipitation. II. Immunochemical characterization of a human cryoglobulin. J Immunol. 1969 Feb;102(2):476–487. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sargent A. U., Saha A., Klassen G. K., Rose B. Studies of cryoprecipitation. 3. Hemodynamic and metabolic adaptation to a circulating single component cryoglobulin. Am J Med. 1970 Jan;48(1):54–62. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(70)90098-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Smiley J. D., Sachs C., Ziff M. In vitro synthesis of immunoglobulin by rheumatoid synovial membrane. J Clin Invest. 1968 Mar;47(3):624–632. doi: 10.1172/JCI105758. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Stastny P., Ziff M. Cold-insoluble complexes and complement levels in systemic lupus erythematosus. N Engl J Med. 1969 Jun 19;280(25):1376–1381. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196906192802503. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Wager O., Mustakallio K. K., Räsänen J. A. Mixed IgA-IgG cryoglobulinemia. Immunological studies and case reports of three patients. Am J Med. 1968 Feb;44(2):179–187. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(68)90149-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wager O., Räsänen J. A., Hagman A., Klemola E. Mixed cryoimmunoglobulinaemia in infectious mononucleois and Cytomegalovirus mononucleosis. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1968;34(4):345–361. doi: 10.1159/000230129. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Winchester R. J., Agnello V., Kunkel H. G. Gamma globulin complexes in synovial fluids of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Partial characterization and relationship to lowered complement levels. Clin Exp Immunol. 1970 May;6(5):689–706. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Zinneman H. H., Levi D., Seal U. S. On the nature of cryoglobulins. J Immunol. 1968 Mar;100(3):594–603. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES