Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Oct 2013
Sputum autoantibodies in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis and subjects at risk of future clinically apparent disease.
To evaluate the generation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related autoantibodies in the lung. ⋯ RA-related autoantibodies are detectable in sputum in subjects at risk of RA and in subjects with early RA. In a subset of at-risk subjects, the presence of sputum autoantibodies in the absence of seropositivity, and the increased autoantibody-to-total Ig ratios in sputum, suggest that the lung may be a site of autoantibody generation in the early development of RA. These findings suggest an important role of the lung in the pathogenesis of RA.