180 Canadian Family Physician • Le Médecin de famille canadien d VOL 52: FEBRUARY • FÉVRIER 2006 I is important for family physicians to understand the role of rheumatoid factor (RF) in management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rheumatoid factors are antibodies that recognize the Fc portion of IgG molecules as their antigens; RFs can be of any immunoglobulin isotype (IgM, IgG, IgE)...

We report that sera from healthy controls, patients with ovarian or lung cancer, and patients with rheumatoid arthritis all contain IgM polyclonal rheumatoid factors which recognize antigenic determinants on murine and to a greater extent human immunoglobulin IgG. The major part of this reactivity is directed against conserved, shared antigenic determinants present on both human and murine IgG....

An increasing number of studies show that besides the inherited genetic architecture (that is, genomic DNA), various environmental factors significantly contribute to the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis. Epigenetic factors react to external stimuli and form bridges between the environment and the genetic information-harboring DNA. Epigenetic mechanisms are implicated in the final interpretatio...

Rheumatoid factors are antibodies directed against the Fc region of immunoglobulin G. First detected in patients with rheumatoid arthritis 70 years ago, they can also be found in patients with other autoimmune and nonautoimmune conditions, as well as in healthy subjects. Rheumatoid factors form part of the workup for the differential diagnosis of arthropathies. In clinical practice, it is recom...

OBJECTIVE To determine the mortality risk of Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis, taking into account lifestyle and physical factors, including comorbidity. METHODS 91 individuals with rheumatoid arthritis were identified during screening a cohort of 16 119 Japanese atomic bomb survivors in the period 1958 to 1966. These individuals and the remainder of the cohort were followed for mo...