Synovial permeability in rheumatoid arthritis

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Abstract
In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in persons with other kinds of synovitis, proteins enter the knee joint more rapidly than in normal individuals (P < 0.001). The rheumatoid synovium, however, is less permeable to small molecules (tritiated water, P < 0.02; urate, P < 0.05; and glucose, P < 0.002) than is the normal joint lining. This difference is explained if rheumatoid microvascular changes enhance synovial permeability to proteins while coexisting interstitial changes diminish synovial permeability to smaller molecules.