A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF DNA-REPAIR ABILITY OF LYMPHOCYTES OF PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS AND RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS

Induction of DNA breaks with 4-NQO and their resynthesis in the cultiv ated lymphocytes of peripheral blood of 23 patients with systemic lupu s erythematosus (SLE) and 12 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) w ere studied by the method of hydroxyapatite column chromatography of c ell lysates. The number of spontaneous DNA breaks was shown to increas e in 48% of patients with SLE and in 42% of patients with RA, compared to that in the control. Inhibition of the repair process was observed in 35% of patients with SLE and in 17% of patients with RA. Complete repair of DNA breaks was observed in 67% of patients with RA and only in 26% of patients with SLE.