ELISA estimations of rheumatoid factor IgM, IgA, and IgG in sera from RA patients with high disease activity. DTT treatment studies

Scand J Rheumatol Suppl. 1988:75:40-5. doi: 10.3109/03009748809096738.

Abstract

Although Elisa assays detecting rheumatoid factor's (RF) show high sensitivity and specificity, difficulties with IgA- and especially IgG-RF testing in ELISA systems, due to interaction from 'contaminating' IgM-RF is still thought to be a problem. Sera from 15 Rheumatoid Arthritis patients with high disease activity and high IgM-RF values were Dithiothreitol (DTT) treated. IgM-RF values were reduced to approximately zero in all tested sera. IgA-RF activity declined as expected, but also showed a statistically significant correlation between % reduction after DTT treatment and the IgM-RF value from the same serum sample. IgG-RF also decreased after DTT treatment, most pronounced for high IgG-RF values. A correlation (not statistically significant) between the % reduction in IgG-RF after DTT treatment and the IgM-RF value from the same serum sample was observed. Pepsin and Diethylammonium ethyl (DEAE) reduced the IgG-RF activity even more than after DTT treatment of the sera. Fractionation by Gel filtration of 8 serum samples showed that all the RF activity were found according to the 'first top' of the gel filtration curve.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid / blood*
  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid / drug therapy
  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid / physiopathology
  • Chromatography, Gel
  • Dithiothreitol / therapeutic use*
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay*
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin A / immunology*
  • Immunoglobulin G / immunology*
  • Immunoglobulin M / immunology*
  • Rheumatoid Factor / analysis*

Substances

  • Immunoglobulin A
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Immunoglobulin M
  • Rheumatoid Factor
  • Dithiothreitol