C. A. L. Stephens

Plasma levels of free amino acids in normal subjects compared with patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Summary Microbiological determinations of plasma values for arginine, glycine, histidine, lysine, phenylalanine, serine, and threonine have been determined in a group of normal individuals and compared with the values obtained from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. 1. The values obtained for arginine, histidine, and threonine in patients with rheumatoid arthritis were lower than those obtained from the normal group. These differences were highly significant 11 . 2. The values for glycine, lysine, phenylalanine and serine were not significantly different in the group with rheumatoid arthritis from those found in the group of normal individuals.

Urinary excretion of certain amino acids during ACTH and cortisone treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Summary and conclusions Rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with ACTH showed a highly significant increase in urinary free threonine, lysine, and tyrosine as determined as the average and maximum 24-hour excretion. Cortisone-treated patients excreted a highly significant amount of threonine and tyrosine at the maximum, but lysine was not increased significantly. Arginine excretion was not significantly affected by either ACTH or Cortisone. Supplementary medication did not affect significantly the responses of the patients to ACTH or Cortisone, chemically or clinically. Clinical improvement in all patients was both subjective and objective. The cause of the increase in urinary excretion of the amino acids herein reported is not known and may or may not be associated directly with the metabolic changes brought about by the remission of rheumatoid arthritis.

Apparent Free Histidine Plasma and Urine Values in Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Cortisone and ACTH.

Summary 1. Five rheumatoid arthritics treated with Cortisone and 10 treated with ACTH show a striking increase in urinary excretion of apparent free histidine. This increase in histidine urinary excretion has to date occurred only in association with clinical remission. 2. Plasma levels were not significantly altered during the average treatment period, but the maximum value reached during treatment showed a significant increase when compared with the highest control values.

Adjuvant disease--the paradox of prevention and induction with complete Freund's adjuvant.

Summary Subcutaneous pretreatment of rats with heat-killed Mycobacterium butyricum in mineral oil protected against the induction of adjuvant disease 2 wk later. A dose of 50 to 100 μg protected optimally while higher and lower doses were less protective. Mineral oil pretreatment alone appeared to aggravate the disease.

Use of Acridine Orange in Lymphocyte Transformation Test

Discussion and Summary The fluorochrome, acridine orange, has been utilized in this laboratory as a rapid, sensitive, and reliable method for the visualization and tabulation of cells in the lymphocyte transformation test. With careful control of pH of the staining solution, and proper differentiation in ethanol—saline, the staining is highly reproducible and specific for DNA and RNA. Blastogenesis is readily recognizable by both nuclear and cytoplasmic changes. Acridine orange has been used to evaluate the nonspecific effect of phytohemagglutinin (PHA-P), and the specific antigenic stimulation of tetanus toxoid, coccidioidin, and typhoid vaccines, penicillin and penicilloyl-polylysine on human lymphocytes from sensitized individuals. The results obtained were comparable to those obtained from Wright-stained preparations and consistent with those from autoradiography of tritiated thymidine incorporation into nuclear DNA. Investigators using blastogenesis as an index for the lymphocyte transformation test may well wish to consider acridine orange for its simplicity and reliability.

TRANSFER FACTOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights results of experiments conducted to study transfer factor (TF) immunotherapy of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The report states that 27 RA patients were treated with leucocyte extracts in this study. Extracts were prepared from cohabitant donor cells, and among other substances should have contained “transfer factor.” Transfer factor for the initial treatment was prepared from one pint of heparinized cohabitant blood and the donor was skin tested with six canton antigens. It was observed that bivariate analysis does not reveal significant changes or even suggestive trends in other parameters determined in this study. The results suggest that “transfer factor” caused improvement in some but not all patients. Perhaps some are able to respond favorably to this therapy while others cannot. This was suggested when some patients worsened after repeat treatment. The results produced observations that none of the 27 RA patients treated with leucocyte extracts were cured and no toxic or allergic reactions due to the extracts were seen.

Survival in Vitro of Nitrogen Mustard-Treated Peripheral Lymphocytes

Summary A small population of peripheral blood lymphocytes survived in vitro dosages of nitrogen mustard up to those equivalent to 50 times the therapeutic level. Some surviving cells were capable of a positive response to phytohemagglutinin. The data suggest the possibility of a nitrogen mustard-resistant or adaptive population of lymphocytes.

Adjuvant Disease-Prevention with Complete Freund's Adjuvant and with Mineral Oil Alone

Summary Rats pretreated with various doses of Mycobacterium butyricum in mineral oil were protected against the induction of adjuvant disease 28 days later. Single 12.5 and 50 μg doses provided almost total protection. A 200 μg dose induced mild disease by itself, but prevented an anamnestic response following inductive challenge on the 28th day. Pretreatment with mineral oil alone afforded moderate, but significant protection. There were significant differences between these results and those obtained following inductive challenge on the 14th day.

The use of folic acid in the treatment of anemia of rheumatoid arthritis-a preliminary report.

Excerpt INTRODUCTION It is well established on sound evidence that rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease.1, 2, 3, 4The most dramatic manifestation is usually a polyarthritis. However, associat...