Studies on the infectious etiology of human rheumatoid arthritis. II. Search for humoral and cell-bound antibodies against mycoplasmal antigens.

A total of 29 rheumatoid patients and 19 nonrheumatoid patients were tested for evidence of present or past infection by M pneumoniae, M hominis, M fermentans, M arthritidis, M pulmonis, and M hyorhinis. The techniques of lymphocye transformation, metabolic-inhibiting antibody test, and mycoplasmcidal antibody test indicated no significant difference in the response of rheumatoid as opposed to nonrheumatoid patients.