Total and Differential Protein Levels in the Blood and Cerebrospinal Fluid in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Abstract
The results obtained by accurate chemical estimation of the blood and cerebrospinal -fluid proteins in 23 cases of severe chronic active rheumatoid arthritis are described. All detns. of the proteins were done by the micro-Kjeldahl method. The globulin was precipitated from the blood serum by 42% (W/V) crystalline Na sulfite. The total protein level of the cerebrospinal-fluid in rheumatoid arthritis was found to be above the normal mean both in the females and the males. The cerebrospinal-fluid globulin was raised in both sexes. The cerebrospinal-fluid albumin was normal in the male cases and significantly raised in the female cases. The total serum protein levels were within normal limits except in 2 cases in which they were found to be rather high. No clinical reason for this was evidenced. Serum albumin figures were normal, but the serum globulin figures and the serum G/A ratio were both high in nearly all cases. The high serum protein levels were found to be due solely to the globulin fraction. It was not possible to correlate these results with clinical findings. The authors conclude that the estimation of the cerebralspinal-fluid protein is of no clinical importance.