Beta-haemolytic streptococci and antistreptolysin-O titres in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and a matched control group.

Since 1935 several reports have dealt with the antistreptolysin-O (ASO) titre in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The mean and the upper ASO values were first established in a group of normal subjects and in patients with no history of recent streptococcal illness, and subsequently the distribution of the ASO titres was recorded in patients suffering from RA. Table I summarizes the results of Blair and Hallman (1935), Dawson and Olmstead (1936), Longcope (1936), Goldie and Griffiths (1936), Bunim and McEwen (1940), Winblad (1941), Westergren and Stavenow (1947), van Loghem-Langereis (1950), Oker-Blom and Widholm (1952), Quinn and Liao (1952), Jacqueline, Eyquem, and Jochem (1954), Otten and Westendorp Boerma (1959). These results are very divergent; most studies show higher ASO titres in patients with RA, but the significance