title: Reaction of rheumatoid factors with IgG3 monoclonal anti-Rh(D) antibodies: more frequent reactivity to a monoclonal antibody of the Gm allotype G3m(5) in rheumatoid patients negative for G3m(5).
abstract: Human monoclonal anti-Rh(D) antibodies of known IgG isotype and Gm allotype were bound to erythrocytes and then used as the target IgG antigens for rheumatoid factors (RFs) in a direct haemagglutination test. When serum samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were tested for RF specificity towards these IgG monoclonal anti-D antibodies the incidence and titre of reactivity towards an IgG3 monoclonal anti-D antibody was considerably greater than for a polyclonal anti-D antibody of the same Gm allotype, G3m(5). This difference was not explained by the amount of each anti-D antibody which bound to erythrocytes. Furthermore, when patients with RA were divided into groups according to their Gm phenotype, sera from a greater proportion of patients negative for the phenotype G3m(5) reacted to the G3m(5) monoclonal anti-D antibodies than sera from those patients positive for this allotype. Analysis of RF reactivities towards two IgG3 and three IgG1 monoclonal anti-D antibodies, each with different Gm allotypic epitopes, indicated, however, that individual serum samples contained RFs with a spectrum of specificities; some sera appeared to react to a single set of Gm alleles, whereas others also reacted to isotypic or iso-allotypic epitopes, or both. Our data suggest that RFs with specificity for Gm allotypes do not arise in patients who carry that particular allotype owing to tolerance induced in fetal-neonatal life. Conversely, RFs with apparent specificity for a Gm allotype formed in patients negative for that allotype may be reacting to a closely related but different epitope. Final proof requires precise specificities for each RF formed, and IgG3 monoclonal anti-D antibodies would be useful reagents for this purpose.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Medical School, University of Exeter, Devon, UK.
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Puttick
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Merry
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kumpel
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: V E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D007129:Immunoglobulin Gm Allotypes / Q000276:immunology*; D007518:Isoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001323:Autoantibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007129:Immunoglobulin Gm Allotypes; D007518:Isoantibodies; C033242:RH-antibodies; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor