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. 1971 May;8(5):713–722.

Specific binding of immunoconglutinin in tissues and synovial fluids from patients with rheumatoid arthritis

O J Mellbye, E Munthe
PMCID: PMC1712980  PMID: 4931854

Abstract

In eluates from rheumatoid synovial tissue, immunoconglutinin was present in only one of fifteen cases. After pepsin digestion, immunoconglutinin activity was increased or revealed in almost all eluates examined. Natural antibodies, present in the corresponding sera, could not be detected in the eluates before or after pepsin digestion. Neither was any immunoconglutinin present or revealed in eluates from non-rheumatoid synovial tissue. The experiments indicated that this antibody is specifically fixed in synovial tissue of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The immunoconglutinin activity in the eluates was probably due to an IgG antibody. Density gradient ultracentrifugation and treatment with 2-ME indicated that both IgG and IgM immunoconglutinin were present in sera from these patients.

In rheumatoid synovial fluids, immunoconglutinin was present in an amount equal to, or somewhat lower than in serum. By density gradient ultracentrifugation at pH 3·0, IgG immunoconglutinin activity seemed to be revealed or increased in most cases, indicating a fixation of this antibody also in synovial fluids.

Immunoconglutinin in human sera could be absorbed out with immune precipitates exposed to fresh human serum, and this reaction seemed to increase the complement fixing ability of the precipitates. If binding of immunoconglutinin in rheumatoid synovial tissue and synovial fluids increases complement fixation and activation in a similar way, it might be a pathogenetic factor in the rheumatoid inflammation.

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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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