NO EVIDENCE OF ADENOVIRAL HEXON REGIONS IN RHEUMATOID SYNOVIAL-CELLS AND TISSUE

Objective. To investigate whether adenoviral DNA is present in synovia l specimens from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Syn ovial fluid (SF) cells from 53 patients with early RA (duration less t han 1 year) and synovial tissue samples of 20 patients with advanced R A were studied by using polymerase chain reaction for the presence of adenoviral DNA. The controls were 21 patients with other asthropathies . Results. No adenoviral DNA was found in the SF leukocytes or synovia l tissue of any of the patients with arthritis. Conclusion. These find ings do not indicate that adenoviruses play a role in the etiology of RA. However, they do not exclude adenoviruses as an occasional cause o f persistent or recurrent inflammatory arthritis.