Haemolytic and Conglutinating Complement in Rheumatoid Synovial Fluid and Serum: Effect of Irradiation Synovectomy by Intra-articular Application of Radioactive Yttrium

Abstract

The present paper describes a method of simultaneous titration of the total haemolytic complement and the so-called conglutinating complement. This method was used to observe the haemolytic and conglutinating complement of both blood and synovial fluid in 35 cases before and after irradiation synovectomy was performed with intra-articular radioactive yttrium (⁹⁰Y). In almost all synovial fluids the complement determinations showed values considerably lower than those simultaneously obtained on the serum. A week, a month and 6 months after irradiation synovectomy the distribution of the complement titres in the synovial fluid was the same as before synovectomy. Disappearance of the lowest titres could be shown in the blood. It seemed (statistically uncertainly) that irradiation synovectomy resulted in the disappearance of effusion more often in cases with a high complement content of the synovial fluid than in cases with a very low titre. The titres of the conglutinating complement were always higher than those of the haemolytic complement, and it was also seen how a low haemolytic complement in the blood could be accompanied by a normal conglutinating complement.