Free radicals in children with rheumatic diseases in serum and synovial fluid.

Free radicals, demonstrable by thiobarbituric acid, are also significant in the pathogenic concept of juvenile chronic arthritis. 41 patients without therapy demonstrate significantly increased values in serum, compared with the same patients after a treatment of 4 weeks. There are relations between ESR and the concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in serum, but without statistic significance. In the synovial fluid the radicals are increasingly demonstrable, but there is no relation to the number of cells or granulocytes.