Experimental induction of rheumatoid factor-like substances in animal trypanosomiasis

Abstract

Rheumatoid factor-like substances were induced in rabbits by infection with Trypanosoma equiperdum. There was a certain parallelism with the phenomena described earlier with T. gambiense infections in man. The anti-IgG globulins were IgM with a preference for heterologous (human) IgG in the latex fixation test. A correlation was found between the latex fixation titres and the IgM levels in the sera. A naturally occurring pre-infectious agglutinator was not of IgM nature. The anti-IgG globulins developed in all the infected animals, mostly within 2 weeks and often before the IgG levels in the sera started to increase.

The failure to induce rheumatoid factor-like substances in mice infected with a certain strain of T. gambiense indicates the importance of the host–parasite relationship for the formation of rheumatoid factors.

The single radial diffusion method according to Mancini, Carbonara & Heremans (1965) did not give valid results for the determination of IgM in the rabbit sera, but could be used for IgG. IgM was determined by an indirect method.

These experiments might form the basis of a model for investigating the nature of rheumatoid factor formation.