In a double-blind controlled study on 45 rheumatoid arthritis patients, no effect of tranexamic acid (Cyklocapron, 4.5 g per day for 6 weeks) was found in terms of subjective or objective parameters of disease activity. Tranexamic acid did not reduce complement activation, measured by plasma concentrations of the complement C3 split product C3d. Immune complex concentrations in serum were also unaffected. We conclude that plasmin inhibitors do not reduce immune complex mediated complement activation, and they should not be used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Data from an examination of 2,008 sera from parous women for lymphocytotoxic antibodies (LCTAb) and complement-fixing platelet antibodies (CFPAb) are presented. The incidence of LCTAb was 13.4% and the incidence of CFPAb 2.9%. The finding of 14 sera with CFPAb to platelets in the absence of LCTAb is discussed. It is suggested that cytotoxic antibodies belong to two different globulin classes: complementfixing cytolytic antibodies and blocking antibodies only cytolytic with rabbit complement. The incidences of CFPAb and LCTAb were found s i a c a n t l y lower in primparae.Smoking also seemed to depress the ability to form antibodies.

Reference value for cord blood lipid and lipoprotein concentrations. Acta Paediatr Scand, 63: 431, 1974.-Cord blood lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in 120 newborns, 60 boys and 60 girls, have been determined in order to evaluate reference values for these components. The lipoprotein analyses were performed with an electrophoretic technique, which enables correction for the difference in lipid composition of the lipoproteins in the quantitation procedure. The lipid analyses revealed a small, but statistically significant higher phospholipid concentration in girls than in boys @<0.05). A similar difference in cholesterol concentration was not statistically significant @ >0.05). No sex difference was found in lipoprotein concentrations. Our results were generally found in accordance with the few other previous studies on lipoproteins in cord blood. The results were also directly comparable to those in a recent study on the LDLcholestero! concentration in cord blood (12). This supports the assumption that the lipoprotein composition in newborns is similar to that found in adults. The distribution of the cord blood lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in the sample are given, and by use of non-parametric statistics the contidence intervals for the true percentiles in the population were calculated.

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Abstract. Sera from 1,001 pregnant women were drawn at the time of delivery and examined for the presence of cytotoxic antibodies directed against their husbands' lymphocytes. 12.3% of all the women had cytotoxins in serum at delivery. The frequencies ranged from 9.6% in first pregnancies to 18.2% in women with more than 3 pregnancies. The occurrence of foeto‐maternal leucocyte immunization is discussed and a review of the literature is given.