To determine occurrence of cryoglobulinemia (CGE) in residents of Moscow with various rheumatic diseases and healthy subjects, in Tynda population (migrants to Siberia) with rheumatic arthritis (RA) and healthy ones.
CG screening was performed according to the WHO recommendations among 243 rheumatic patients from Moscow, 500 healthy subjects living in Moscow, 72 RA patients from Siberia and 1750 healthy Siberia migrants.
CGE occurred more frequently among Moscovites with SLE and RA (28 and 19%, respectively). In RA Siberians CGE was present in 52%. In healthy Siberians CGE occurred in 8.4% of the examinees, in Moscovites it was extremely rare. In all the examinees CGE was associated with cryoglobulinemia syndrome. SLE and RA Moscovites had mixed CGE with monoclonal components (type II), RA Siberial migrants had CGE type II and III (mixed polyclonal).
The study of CGE incidence in healthy migrants to Siberia with different duration of residence, measurements of metal ions in RA Siberians with and without CGE in the serum, blood cells and cryoprecipitates provided the authors with information for a new hypothesis of CGE origin and design of new policy of treating CGE.