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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffA rheumatoid factor test measures the amount of rheumatoid factor in your blood. Rheumatoid factors are proteins produced by your immune system that can attack healthy tissue in your body.
High levels of rheumatoid factor in the blood are most often associated with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome. But rheumatoid factor may be detected in some healthy people, and people with autoimmune diseases sometimes have normal levels of rheumatoid factor.
References
- Goodyear CS, et al. Rheumatoid factors and other autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis. In: Firestein GS, et al. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/215187023-6/1040817228/1807/359.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3285-4..10051-8--s0010_1498. Accessed Aug. 18, 2010.
- Rheumatoid factor. Lab Tests Online. http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/rheumatoid/multiprint.html. Accessed Aug. 19, 2010.
- Shmerling RH. Origin and utility of measurement of rheumatoid factors. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 19, 2010.
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