Effect of gold therapy on CD5 B-cells and TCR γ T-cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Circulating CD5 B-cell levels in 15 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) not receiving remittive therapy was significantly increased when compared to 17 normal controls (mean±SE: RA, 19.7±2.85%; controls, 11.6±1.67%; P<0.02). In contrast, 24 patients with RA receiving gold sodium thiomalate therapy (GST) had similar CD5 B-cell levels (11.88±1.65) when compared to controls and significantly reduced levels when compared to the RA group not receiving remittive agents ( P<0.01). Furthermore, TCR γ T-cell levels were also assessed in these patients groups. These values were not significantly different between any of the groups (controls, 4.46±1.36%; GST, 6.88±1.73%; RA, 2.73±0.55%), although 42% of the GST treated group had γ T-cell levels higher than the entire untreated RA group. No correlation was observed between the levels of TCR γ T-cells and CD5 B-cells in any of these groups. These results suggested that therapy does influence the level of CD5 B-cells and γ T-cells in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]