Lack of induction of antinuclear antibodies by D-penicillamine in rheumatoid arthritis: a controlled study.

The induction of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) by D-penicillamine (DP) was studied in 148 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had completed at least 30 weeks in a double blind trial which compared DP at doses 500 mg and 125 mg daily to placebo. There was no difference among the 3 groups in the frequency of a positive ANA at any titer or at a titer greater than 1:16 either pretreatment or at the end of the study. The conversion from a negative to a positive ANA occurred as frequently in the placebo treated controls with RA as in the DP treated RA patients. Antibodies to native DNA appeared in 3 DP treated patients, none of whom had symptoms of drug induced lupus or of DP toxicity.