We investigated the influence of carbohydrate on the binding of human rheumatoid factors (RF) to the Fc fragment of IgC. The monoclonal RF studied were derived from the serum of patients with mixed cryoglobulinemia or from hybridomas generated from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus. Polyclonal RF were derived from patients with RA. The carbohydrate located on the Fc fragment, regardless of whether it contained different amounts of mannose or reduced amounts of galactose, or was removed, did not affect the binding of the RF. In contrast, the isotype of the Fc was found to be critical. Two groups of hybridoma RF could be delineated. One group bound preferentially to IgCl and/or IgG2, and a second group (primarily from patients with RA) bound preferentially to IgG3 and/or IgG4. Our results indicate that the isotype of the Fc fragment, and not the extent of galactosylation, influences the binding of the RF.Human rheumatoid factors (RF), a group of antibodies to gamma globulins, are highly associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (1). These antibodies have been demonstrated to bind region(s) in the Fc fragment of gamma globulins, with good evidence to suggest the Cy2-Cy3 cleft as a likely site for binding