Fc receptors on lymphocytes from the blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients and normal controls: a comparison of four Fc receptor assays.

Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and healthy controls (NC) were assayed for Fc receptors by four methods. Three of the four assays showed RA PBL to contain a greater proportion and number of Fc receptor-bearing cells than PBL from healthy controls. This confirmed our earlier report and indicated that the proportion of Fc receptor-bearing cells detected can be influenced by the test system. Neither the proportion of B, nor the non-B, non-T lymphocytes was consistently increased in RA PBL, suggesting that the increase found results from an increase in Fc gamma receptor-positive T cells.