BASOPHILIA IN JUVENILE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Abstract

Since mast cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis and since basophils and mast cells are similar in their structure and function, we decided to study circulating basophils in children with rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Absolute number of basophils/c mm of peripheral blood and their percentage was estimated in 16 patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and 20 normal controls using the method of James and Moore. Eight of the 16 patients had mono(pauci) articular arthritis and 8 had the polyarficular variety. Two patients were on steroid at the time of the study. Mean absolute basophil count in normal children was 33/c mm (S.E.±3)compared to a mean value of 67/c mm (S.E.±7) for the entire group of children with rheumatoid arthritis(P<0.005) and a mean of 85/c mm (S.E.±5) for the subgroup of 6 children with active untreated polyarthritis. Children with polyarthritis in remission and children with mono(pauci)articular arthritis also had elevated mean basophil count but these were not statistically significant. The mean of basophil count expressed as percentage of total white cell count in controls was 0.45 (S.E.±0.005) compared to a mean of 0.85 (S.E.±0.25) in the JRA group (P<6.005). It appears that the role of basophils in JRA deserves further exploration.