Characterization of Mycoplasma Strains and Antibody Studies From Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis*

Comparison of complement-fixing antibody titres in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and matched controls.

“…Direct methods of demonstrating infectious agents in rheumatoid tissues have given apparently conflicting results (Bartholomew, 1967;Duthie, Stewart, Alexander, and Dayhoff, 1967;Sharp, 1970).…”

Mycoplasmas and "non-specific" genital infection. I. Previous studies and laboratory aspects.

“…The isolation of M. hominis and "M. hominis type 2" (now known as M. arthritidis) by Bartholomew (1965Bartholomew ( , 1967 from the synovial fluids of two patients suffering from Reiter's disease was accomplished by means of a cell-culture technique. Because cell cultures are often contaminated by mycoplasmas, the true origin of these isolates is uncertain, although M. arthritidis has not been commonly found as a contaminant in cell cultures.…”

“…Because cell cultures are often contaminated by mycoplasmas, the true origin of these isolates is uncertain, although M. arthritidis has not been commonly found as a contaminant in cell cultures. M. hyorhinis, which infects pigs and which has been found in various cell cultures, was isolated from the synovial fluids of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in cell cultures (Bartholomew, 1965(Bartholomew, , 1967. The source of these isolates is similarly open to doubt.…”

Present Status of the Medical Importance of Mycoplasmas

“…It is a general feature of these reports, as well as of a few others not referred to by M orton [49,116] that the mycoplasmas recovered were either not classified (frequently be cause they could not be maintained in subcultures), or that different species were isolated during a series of investigations. As an illustrative example, mention may be made of the studies by Bartholomew [10,11], who on the basis of tissue-culture methods isolated mycoplasmas from the synovial fluid from 5 of 6 patients with Reiter's syndrome or systemic lupus erythematosis. While Bartholomew's first report aroused rather considerable interest the subsequent identification of his isolates as be longing to either M. hominis, M. arthritidis or M. hyorhinis cast some doubt on the significance of his findings.…”