[Electron-microscopic demonstration of virus-like structures in the synovial membrane in chronic progressive polyarthritis].

The recent demonstration of ultramicroscopic "virus-like" cell inclusions in various organs in patients with collagen and autoimmune diseases suggest that viruses may play an aetiological role in these diseases. This paper reports briefly on some of the evidence for such "virus-like" structures in different cells of the synovial membrane from two patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The inclusions were localised in the vaculoes of the endoplasmatic reticulum of endothelial cells, lymphocytes, macrophages, fibroblasts and perithelial cells. They appear as tubular bodies of approximately 250 A. diameter. The tubules join together so that they form a 3-dimensional network. The possible viral or non-viral nature of these inclusions is discussed. A ultramicroscopical resemblance to the RNA-containing paramyxo-viruses suggests their virus nature. However, the negative results in testing with serum antibodies and immunofluorescence techniques argue against this. The authors suggest that the demonstration of these inclusions in other than collagen diseases points more in the direction of the correlation of these inclusions with immune globulin synthesis rather than the presence of a virus.