title: A quantitative immunofluorescence assay for IgM rheumatoid factor.
abstract: A quantitative immunofluorescence assay for IgM rheumatoid factor (RF) has been developed using the FIAX fluorometer. Two hundred and six (206) patient serum samples submitted for RF or antinuclear antibody testing were assayed by the fluorometric method and by the sheep cell slide agglutination test (Rheumaton, Wampole Laboratories) currently used in our clinical laboratory. There was an overall agreement of 95.1% between the 2 methods. The fluorometric RF assay is simple, sensitive, reproducible, and does not suffer from the subjectivity present in slide agglutination tests.
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis*; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor