To study concentrations of alpha-2-macroglobulin (A-2-MG) in blood serum and synovial fluid (SF) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and formulation of basic clinical, laboratory and x-ray criteria of RA activity.
A-2-MG levels were measured in the serum and SF from 151 RA patients and in the serum of 20 patients with osteoarthrosis (OA) and 62 healthy donors. The serum concentration for RA patients was 166 +/- 65.3 mg%, for OA patients--175.26 +/- 36.99 mg% and for healthy donors--177.772 +/- 50 mg%. Mean concentration of SF A-2-MG in RA patients was 98.77 +/- 82.43 mg%.
Changes in the concentration of A-2-MG are unrelated to inflammation activity in the joints of RA and OA patients. Serum and synovial concentration of this protein corresponds to changes in the concentration of IgM and rheumatoid factors in RA patients.