Effect of gold salt treatment on the receptor binding activity of monocytes and macrophages isolated from rats with adjuvant arthritis.

We investigated the effect of chrysotherapy on the Fc and complement receptor binding activity of peripheral blood (PB) monocytes and peritoneal (PE) macrophages isolated from normal rats and rats with adjuvant induced arthritis. The adjuvant induced severe disease in Dark Agouti (DA) rats and less marked disease in J. C. Lewis (JC) rats. Gold treatment reduced the disease in DA rats but exacerbated the disease in JC rats. PB monocytes generally exhibited increased receptor activity after adjuvant injection. Gold treatment resulted in a simultaneous reduction of the PB monocyte receptor activity and increased the PE macrophage receptor activity. This was considered to be due to a direct effect of gold, since the Fc receptor activity of PE macrophages increased after in vitro gold treatment.