Antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity in different forms of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

The activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes from 61 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was examined in the antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) test in the allogenous system. The control group consisted of 86 healthy donors. Also, the effect of sera from RA patients upon the normal lymphocytes in ADCC was studied and the EA rosette test was performed. A significant decrease in the cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes was found in RA patients, this being dependent on the form of RA rather than laboratory evidence of the inflammatory process. Particularly poor cytotoxic activity was revealed in rheumatoid subjects with the coexisting laboratory evidence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and amyloidosis. It seems that factors inhibiting lymphocyte cytotoxicity in the ADCC test are of a complex nature.