STUDIES ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE FIBRINOID MATERIAL OF THE SUBCUTANEOUS NODULE OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS 1

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Abstract
The fibrinoid material of 5 subcut. nodules obtained from patients with rheumatoid arthritis was extracted by treatment of fresh nodule tissue with either dilute NaOH or trypsin. The extracts of fibrinoid were analyzed for hydroxyproline by a sensitive radioisotope derivative technique and found to contain between 0 and 0.3 mg. of hydroxy-proline/g. of nodule tissue. Collagen content of the nodule tissue ranged between 70.8 and 159 mg./g. From the relative areas of collagen and fibrinoid present in microscopic sections of untreated nodules, the approximate concn. of fibrinoid was estimated. Values varied between 17 and 40 mg./g. The max. amts. of collagen which could be present in the extracted fibrinoid, calculated from the hydroxyproline content of the fibrinoid extracts, were found to be about 2% by wt. of the fibrinoid. The results indicate that if collagenous material is present in the fibrinoid of the subcut. nodule, the amounts are negligible.