Rheumatoid factor (RF) is an important marker of many autoimmune diseases. Presence of RF is characteristic for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases of various underlying

The agglutination of sensitized sheep cells by a factor in the serum of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis has been the subject of continued investigation since its recognition by Waaler.' This reaction, with its modifications, furnishes the useful diagnostic tests for the illness.1 2, 4, 9, The hemagglutination reaction has also been used in the study of the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthr...

Ziff, Schmid, Lewis, and Tanner (1958) first reported that rheumatoid factors reacting with human Cohn fraction II gamma globulins assessed by means of a latex-fixation test (LEI) were aggregated in the families of hospital patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This evidence for familial aggregation was confirmed by Ball and Lawrence (1961) in the urban population sample of Leigh, England, the te...