title: Evaluation of serum thymic hormone and of circulating T cells in rheumatoid arthritis and in systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: The presence of a serum factor secreted by the thymus has been demonstrated in the serum of mice and man using a rosette inhibition assay. This factor is a peptide with a molecular weight close to 1,000. Its level is age dependent, being stable until the age of 6 months in mice and until 20 years in man. New Zealand Black mice show a premature cessation of thymic hormone secretion preceeding the onset of other T cell abnormalities and auto-immunity. Before any treatment the serum thymic hormone level is abnormally low in most cases of SLE even in patients under 25, an age where control subjects still show high hormone levels. Conversely, normal or high levels are found in RA, PARTICularly in patients over 40 who showed in 60% of cases a hormone level significantly higher than normal controls of the same age. In keeping with this data T cells evaluated by SRBC spontaneous rosette formation show low figures in some patients with active SLE and normal or high values in most cases of RA.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D006728:Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007104:Immune Adherence Reaction; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006728:Hormones