Inhibition of reticuloendothelial function by gold and its relation to postinjection reactions.
A patient with rheumatoid arthritis developed severe exacerbation of symptoms 18 hours after an injection of gold thiomalate (sodium aurothiomalate). Immune complexes were present in his serum and synovial fluid; in the synovial fluid they were associated with intense complement activation. The effect of gold salts on splenic reticuloendothelial function was determined by measuring the clearance of heat-damaged erythrocytes from the circulation. Gold thiomalate (50 mg) substantially delayed clearance in the patient but had no effect in four other patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had not had a postinjection reaction. Severely impaired clearance also occurred in three out of four healthy people given 100 mg gold but they remained asymptomatic. The postinjection reaction may be an immune-complex disease that is triggered in certain patients because gold transiently inhibits reticuloendothelial function.
D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D006052:Gold Sodium Thiomalate / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007105:Immune Complex Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012157:Mononuclear Phagocyte System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000276:immunology
D006052:Gold Sodium Thiomalate; D003165:Complement System Proteins