Plasmapheresis versus lymphoplasmapheresis in rheumatoid arthritis: immunologic comparisons and literature review.
Eight patients with Functional Class III, seropositive, erosive rheumatoid arthritis unresponsive to remittive drugs each underwent nine aphereses over 3 weeks. Four had a 40-ml/kg plasma exchange and four others had a 40-ml/kg plasma exchange plus a mean 5.67 X 10(9) lymphocyte depletion. Both groups appeared to improve clinically. T and B cell counts and OK T4 and OK T8 ratios decreased in the lymphoplasmapheresis group. Phytohemagglutinin stimulation decreased in lymphoplasmapheresis and increased in plasmapheresis patients with significant comparisons (p = 0.02). These findings confirm and extend previous work. Plasmapheresis and lymphoplasmapheresis appear to have fundamentally different actions on lymphocyte function.
D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007937:Leukapheresis; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010956:Plasmapheresis