Abstract
The present authors reported 1 bacteriological investigations on blood, synovial fluid and subcutaneous nodules in rheumatoid arthritis, which entirely failed to confirm the results of Cecil, Nicholls and Stainsby. Cecil, Nicholls and Stainsby 2 further stated that the sera of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis possessed the property of agglutinating their “typical strains” to a remarkably high titre.
Through the courtesy of Dr. Cecil several “typical strains” were made available. Specimens of serum were obtained from a large number of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and agglutination tests were done using these strains as agglutinogens. For control purposes a large number of other organisms, obtained from a variety of sources, was similarly employed against the sera of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The study was further controlled by utilizing a large number of specimens of serum obtained from patients suffering from both related and unrelated diseases.
In addition to the “typical strains” of Cecil, Nicholls, and Stainsby, which, in the authors'experience, showed varying degrees of hemolytic properties, cultures of the following organisms were employed in the agglutination tests: (1) Streptococcus hemolyticus, 4 strains; these included strains obtained from scarlet fever, erysipelas and from the throat of a patient with rheumatic fever; (2) Streptococcus viridans, 7 strains; (3) Streptococcus anhemolyticus, 12 strains; (4) green diplococci (exact nature undetermined) 3 strains; (5) Staphylococci, 5 strains.
Specimens of sera obtained from 66 patients suffering from typical rheumatoid arthritis were employed during the course of this study. Control sera were obtained from 50 cases of both related and unrelated diseases. These diseases included the following: osteo-arthritis, 18 cases; gonococcal arthritis, 4 cases; spondylitis, 8 cases; intermittent hydrarthrosis, 1 case; subacute rheumatic fever, 6 cases; non-articular rheumatism, 4 cases; other diseases—chronic nephritis, thromboangiitis obliterans, gastric ulcer, lung abscess, pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumonia, sacro-iliac strain, neurosis, tuberculous peritonitis—9 cases.
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