Targeting early changes in the synovial microenvironment: a new class of immunomodulatory therapy?

Objectives: Controlled immune responses rely on integrated crosstalk between cells and their microenvironment. We investigated whether targeting proinflammatory signals from the extracellular matrix that persist during pathological inflammation provides a viable strategy to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Monoclonal antibodies recognising the fibrinogen-like globe (FBG) of tenascin-C were generated by phage display.

High erythrocyte levels of the n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid linoleic acid are associated with lower risk of subsequent rheumatoid arthritis in a southern European nested case-control study.

Objectives: Findings relating to dietary intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are mixed. Erythrocyte membrane PUFA is an accurate objective biomarker of PUFA status; however, there are little data on erythrocyte membrane PUFA and risk of RA. The objective was therefore to compare erythrocyte membrane PUFA between pre-RA individuals and matched controls from a population-based sample, and specifically to test the hypothesis that higher levels of longer chain n-3 PUFA are associated with lower risk of RA.

Smoking, Porphyromonas gingivalis and the immune response to citrullinated autoantigens before the clinical onset of rheumatoid arthritis in a Southern European nested case-control study.

Background: Antibodies to citrullinated proteins (ACPA) occur years before RA diagnosis. Porphyromonas gingivalis expresses its own peptidylarginine deiminase (PPAD), and is a proposed aetiological factor for the ACPA response. Smoking is a risk factor for both ACPA-positive RA and periodontitis.

Bronchiectasis is a Model for Chronic Bacterial Infection Inducing Autoimmunity in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To examine the potential of chronic severe bacterial infection to generate rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs), by studying patients with bronchiectasis (BR) alone and BR patients with rheumatoid arthritis (BR/RA).

Methods: We studied 122 patients with BR alone, 50 patients with BR/RA, and 50 RA patients without lung disease, as well as 87 patients with asthma and 79 healthy subjects as controls. RF levels were measured using an automated analyzer, and cyclic citrullinated peptide 2 (CCP-2) was used to detect ACPAs.

Potent anti-inflammatory effects of the narrow spectrum kinase inhibitor RV1088 on rheumatoid arthritis synovial membrane cells.

Background And Purpose: To investigate whether a narrow spectrum kinase inhibitor RV1088, which simultaneously targets specific MAPKs, Src and spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), is more effective at inhibiting inflammatory signalling in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) than single kinase inhibitors (SKIs).

Experimental Approach: elisas were used to determine the efficacy of RV1088, clinically relevant SKIs and the pharmaceutical Humira on pro-inflammatory cytokine production by activated RA synovial fibroblasts, primary human monocytes and macrophages, as well as spontaneous cytokine synthesis by synovial membrane cells from RA patients. In human macrophages, RNAi knockdown of individual kinases was used to reveal the effect of inhibition of kinase expression on cytokine synthesis.

Intra-articular injection of mesenchymal stem cells leads to reduced inflammation and cartilage damage in murine antigen-induced arthritis.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a debilitating and painful disease leading to increased morbidity and mortality and novel therapeutic approaches are needed. The purpose of this study was to elucidate if mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) injected in the joints of mice with arthritis are therapeutic, reducing joint swelling and cartilage destruction.

Methods: Murine mesenchymal stem cells (mMSCs) were isolated from bone marrow of C57Bl/6 mice and expanded in culture.

Orphan receptor GPR15/BOB is up-regulated in rheumatoid arthritis.

Chemokine receptors on leukocytes mediate the recruitment and accumulation of these cells within affected joints in chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Identification of involved receptors offers potential for development of therapeutic interventions. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of orphan receptor GPR15/BOB in the synovium of RA and non-RA patients and in peripheral blood of RA patients and healthy donors.

Monocytes/macrophages express chemokine receptor CCR9 in rheumatoid arthritis and CCL25 stimulates their differentiation.

Introduction: Monocytes/macrophages accumulate in the rheumatoid (RA) synovium where they play a central role in inflammation and joint destruction. Identification of molecules involved in their accumulation and differentiation is important to inform therapeutic strategies. This study investigated the expression and function of chemokine receptor CCR9 in the peripheral blood (PB) and synovium of RA, non-RA patients and healthy volunteers.

Effects of high molecular weight hyaluronan on chondrocytes cultured within a resorbable gelatin sponge.

Freshly isolated bovine articular chondrocytes were seeded into a resorbable gelatin sponge and cultured in the absence or presence of extrinsic high molecular weight hyaluronan (HA) for up to 1 month. The gelatin sponge could be uniformly and reproducibly loaded with chondrocytes. Immunostaining demonstrated that accumulation of pericellular HA increased in the presence of extrinsic HA.