Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis of human leukocyte proteins from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Human leukocyte proteins from more than 150 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, together with age- and sex-matched controls, were analyzed by use of the ISO-DALT technique in two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Patients with ankylosing spondylitis, polymyalgia rheumatica, psoriatic arthritis, calcium tendinitis, post-infectious arthritis, and asymmetrical seronegative arthritis were also included as positive controls. Synthesis of several proteins, referred to by number as members of the "Rheuma" set, is shown to increase in the leukocyte preparations from patients with classical rheumatoid arthritis. Several of these proteins are specific to monocytes or granulocytes; others are of unknown cellular origin, but appear to be unique to rheumatoid arthritis. The Rheuma proteins appear to be indicators of disease activity, because their increased synthesis can be correlated with sedimentation rate and other clinical indices of rheumatoid disease activity.