ANTIGLIADIN ANTIBODIES IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS

To investigate the potential role of gliadin in the pathophysiology of some cases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the authors assayed antigliadin antibodies (AGAb) in RA patients. They used an ELISA to determine AGAb levels in 100 RA patients, a group of RA-free controls with a variety of inflammatory diseases (ID), and a group of controls with noninflammatory diseases (NID). The authors found no significant increase in AGAb titers in the RA patient group as compared with either control group. Only nine patients with RA had detectable levels of AGAbs, which were of the IgG type in seven cases and of the IgA type in two cases. RA patients with and without AGAbs were compared. Patients with AGAbs more often had signs of autoimmune disease including sicca syndrome, positive tests for rheumatoid factor, and positive tests for antinuclear antibodies.