[Lymphocyte nucleoli in the peripheral blood and knee joint effusions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis]

Since the activation of nucleoli in lymphocytes reflected by the presence of nucleoli with more or less distinct nucleolonemata (compact nucleoli in the light microscope) in these cells is considered as a marker of the autoimmune disease development, nucleoli of lymphocytes were investigated in the peripheral blood (22 investigations) and knee joint fluid (52 investigations) of juvenile and adult persons with rheumatoid arthritis. The results clearly indicate that the investigated joint exudates possessed a higher number of "active" lymphocytes (lymphocytes with compact nucleoli) in comparison with the peripheral blood. This observation can be interpreted as an accumulation of stimulated immunocompetent cells in the target organ.