DNA polymerase activity of cultured rheumatoid synovial cells

Cultured synovial cells from 8 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 7 subjects without joint disease were assayed and comapred for RNA-directed and DNA-directed DNA polymerase activity. No activity was found in either RA or control specimens using a synthetic RNA template that specificically detects oncornavirus RNA-directed DNA polymerase. The DNA-directed DNA polymerase activity of RA specimens was increased (P less than 0.10) in the high-speed pellet fraction of cell lysates. The possible relationship of these finding to virus infection in RA is disscussed.