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Three hundred and twelve sera containing antibodies to smooth muscle (SMA) wer analysed for the immunofluorescence patterns they produced in various tissues. A classification is described based on the three main appearances in rat kidney. Some sera, mainly of low titre, reacted only with vessel walls (SMA-V), some stained vessels and renal glomeruli (SMA-G) and high titre sera, mainly from patients with chronic active hepatitis stained vessels, glomeruli, and intracellular fibrils in renal tubules (SMA-T). Peripheral staining in hepatocytes or thyroid cells was not a regular feature. 41/43 polyclonal SMA-T and -G sera were absorbed out completely by actin, and this also removed the pericullular staining in liver and thyroid when present. High titre SMA-V antibodies could not be absorbed by actin, and the antigen remains to be identified.

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Usual techniques for the detection of antigammaglobulin factors (DAT, SCAT, HEAT, Latex FII) are based upon agglutination reactions and are therefore useful when IgM antibodies are involved. It is well known that antiglobulins also belong to IgG and IgA classes.In our experience, 50 per cent. of patients with JRA are persistently seronegative when sera are tested only with conventional agglutination techniques (Garcia Morteo, Hubscher, and Arana, 1970). Recent papers reported elevated IgG antiglobulins in seronegative RA and JRA demonstrated by means of immunoadsorption techniques employing human, horse, and rabbit gammaglobulin rendered insoluble either with glutaraldehyde or with bisdiazobenzidine. These adsorbents had non-specific elution of immunoglobulins (Torrigiani and Roitt, 1967; Torrigiani, Ansell, Chown, and Roitt, 1969; Torrigiani, Roitt, Lloyd, and Corbett, 1970;Bianco, Panush, Stillman, and Schur, 1970).The purpose of this work was to evaluate antigammaglobulin factors in seronegative JRA using a quantitative immunoadsorption technique which would have no non-specific elution of immunoglobulins.Material and methods Sera were collected from fifty patients with JRA selected according to the criteria of Ansell and Bywaters (1959) and from fifty healthy individuals matched for age and sex. Of the patients 21 were under 10, twenty were between 10 and 20, and nine were over 20 years of age. There were 33 females and 17 males. All the sera in both groups proved to be negative in Latex FIT and SCAT tests (Singer and Plotz, 1956; Roitt and Doniach, 1969 (Carpenter and Barsales, 1967; Carpenter and Reisberg, 1968). 1 ml. serumwas incubated with 3 mg. of each adsorbent antigen for 1 hr at 37°C. and left overnight at 4°C. After the complex had been thoroughly washed, elution was carried on for 1 hr in 0 05 M glycine-HCl buffer pH 2 5. The eluates were then neutralized with 0 5 NaOH and their immunoglobulin contents were estimated by Mancini's single radial immunodiffusion method, using specific antisera to IgG, IgA, IgM, and IgD.* Results were expressed in IU per ml. serum, according to WHO 67/97 Ig reference serum. ResultsThe control sera had no elution of any class of immunoglobulin, while 48/50 JRA sera were positive for at least one of the immunoglobulin classes (Table)

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