Rheumatology

G. S. Alarcon and K. V. Straaton
University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.

In some populations, the presence and the dose of the "rheumatoid" epitope have been associated with severe rheumatoid arthritis. Newer treatments include oral antibiotics, oral type II collagen, and a number of biological products. Identification of a mutation in the type II procollagen genes is evidence that some clinical osteoarthritis is genetically related.