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rheumatoid factor

medicine

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diagnosis of immune disorders

  • enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
    In immunologic blood test

    …and IgM complexes known as rheumatoid factors can help confirm the diagnosis of certain conditions, including Sjögren syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic hepatitis.

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rheumatoid arthritis

  • rheumatoid arthritis
    In joint disease: Rheumatoid arthritis and allied disorders

    …arthritis contains an immunoglobulin called rheumatoid factor that behaves as an antibody and reacts with another class of immunoglobulin. This immunoglobulin is produced by plasma cells that are present in sites of tissue injury. There is evidence that suggests that this agent may be one or more viruses or viral…

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role in autoimmune reaction

Related Topics:
antibody
autoimmunity

News

Autoantibodies against vinculin linked to childhood kidney disease June 20, 2025, 3:10 AM ET (News-Medical)

autoantibody, harmful antibody that attacks components of the body called self antigens. Normally autoantibodies are routinely eliminated by the immune system’s self-regulatory process—probably through the neutralization of autoantibody-producing lymphocytes before they mature. At times this process fails, and antibodies that react to self constituents proliferate.

Autoantibodies damage body tissues by bringing about the phagocytosis (ingestion) or lysis (bursting) of healthy cells. Blood cells are common targets of these actions. In autoimmune hemolytic anemia, for example, certain autoantibodies bind to red blood cells. This chemical binding activates the complement system, a series of proteins in the plasma, which in turn lyses the blood cells. Autoantibodies also interfere with the normal functioning of cells. For example, in Graves disease, autoantibodies bind to receptor cells in the thyroid gland, stimulating the overproduction of thyroid hormones. See also autoimmunity.