Ketoprofen-induced reduction of polymorphonuclear cell activation in rheumatoid arthritis.

Ten early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 10 healthy volunteers were given 200 mg of ketoprofen daily for 8 days. Polymorphonuclear cell functional studies were performed just before and immediately after this treatment. In RA patients, increased chemotactic index and adherence returned to normal after this short-term treatment whilst reduced phagocytosis and bacterial function were not significantly modified by the drug.

Organ-specific autoantibodies in non-organ-specific autoimmune diseases with special reference to rheumatoid arthritis.

Sera from 367 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and from 102 patients with other non-organ-specific (NOS) autoimmune diseases were examined for the presence of organ-specific (OS) autoantibodies. The incidence of these OS autoantibodies was not increased in patients with NOS autoimmune diseases with the exception of thyroglobulin antibodies, which were significantly more frequent in RA (P less than 0.001) and in Sjögren's syndrome (P less than 0.