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. 1979 Jul 28;2(6184):235–238. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6184.235

Inhibition of reticuloendothelial function by gold and its relation to postinjection reactions.

B D Williams, C M Lockwood, B A Pussell
PMCID: PMC1595563  PMID: 157793

Abstract

A patient with rheumatoid arthritis developed severe exacerbation of symptoms 18 hours after an injection of gold thiomalate (sodium aurothiomalate). Immune complexes were present in his serum and synovial fluid; in the synovial fluid they were associated with intense complement activation. The effect of gold salts on splenic reticuloendothelial function was determined by measuring the clearance of heat-damaged erythrocytes from the circulation. Gold thiomalate (50 mg) substantially delayed clearance in the patient but had no effect in four other patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had not had a postinjection reaction. Severely impaired clearance also occurred in three out of four healthy people given 100 mg gold but they remained asymptomatic. The postinjection reaction may be an immune-complex disease that is triggered in certain patients because gold transiently inhibits reticuloendothelial function.

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Selected References

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

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