Peripheral Blood Of Rheumatoid Patients Research Articles

Effects of oral administration of d-penicillamine on T- and B-lymphocytes in peripheral blood of rheumatoid patients.

The effects of D-penicillamine on T-lymphocytes (rosette forming cells) and B-lymphocytes (surface IgG- and surface IgM-bearing cells) in peripheral blood of 13 patients with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis were investigated at 4 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks of treatment. At the same time, the determination of the concentrations of serum immunoglobulins and RA tests were carried out, and the rheumatoid activity index was calculated. The administration of D-pencillamine caused a gradual increase in the percentage of T-lymphocytes and a concomitant decrease in the percentage of B-lymphocytes with time. It was found that the tendency toward reduction of the percentage of surface IgM-bearing lymphocytes was more remarkable and accelerated than that of surface IgG-bearing lymphocytes. A decrease in the concentrations of serum IgM and IgG was observed in association with these findings. The agglutination in RA-test became significantly weaker in about half of the cases. Also the rheumatoid activity index became gradually smaller after treatment. The marked decrease in the percentage of B-lymphocytes and in the concentration of serum immunoglobulins may be related to the inhibition of the production of abnormal immunoglobulins.

Subpopulations of B- and T-Lymphocytes in Peripheral Blood of Rheumatoid Patients

Using the immunofluorescent staining for detection of surface membrane immunoglobulin and the spontaneous rosette formation with sheep erythrocytes, B- and T-lymphocytes were identified in lymphocyte populations obtained from the peripheral blood of 36 patients with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis and 13 normal adults. In all of three immunoglobulin subclasses, the mean percentage of B-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of the patients was significantly higher than that of the normal subjects. On the other hand, the mean percentage of blood T-lymphocytes in the patients was remarkably low as compared with that of the normal controls.