Relationship between radiographic changes and symptoms or physical examination findings in subjects with symptomatic medial knee osteoarthritis: a three-year prospective study.

Background: Although osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee joints is the most common and debilitating joint disease in developed countries, the factors that determine the severity of symptoms are not yet understood well. Subjects with symptomatic medial knee OA were followed up prospectively to explore the relationship between radiographic changes and symptoms or physical examination findings.

Methods: One-hundred six OA knees in 68 subjects (mean age 71.

T cell receptor repertoire in BALB/c mice varies according to tissue type, sex, age, and hydrocortisone treatment.

Diversity in T cell recognition of antigens is determined by diverse usage of T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire. TCR repertoire analysis provides fundamental information for understanding T cell immune responses in the pathogenesis of various diseases. In the present study, we examined the TCR repertoire in various tissues in normal BALB/c mice.

Inhibition of Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase substrate-1 reduces the severity of collagen-induced arthritis.

Objective: To investigate whether the blockade of Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase substrate-1 (SHPS-1) has any therapeutic effects on rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: A functional blocking monoclonal antibody for SHPS-1 (anti-SHPS-1 mAb) was administered at various doses to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice, and severity of the arthritis was evaluated by clinical and histological scores of the limbs. To clarify the mechanisms of action of the antibody, the serum concentration of anti-type II collagen antibody was measured in those mice, and in vitro experiments were conducted to determine the effects of the antibody on the induction of osteoclasts and the release of cytokines from mouse spleen cells.

Proinflammatory role of amphiregulin, an epidermal growth factor family member whose expression is augmented in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Background: The epidermal growth factor (EGF) and EGF receptor (EGFR) families play important roles in the hyperplastic growth of several tissues as well as tumor growth. Since synovial hyperplasia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) resembles a tumor, involvement of the EGF/EGFR families in RA pathology has been implied. Although several reports have suggested that ErbB2 is the most important member of the EGFR family for the synovitis in RA, it remains unclear which members of the EGF family are involved.

Production of interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 by nurse-like cells from rheumatoid arthritis patients after stimulation with monocytes.

It has been reported that nurse-like cells (NLCs) play a critical role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The interaction between NLCs established from RA patients (RA-NLCs), and freshly isolated blood monocytes was analyzed to further elucidate the pathogenesis of RA. RA-NLC lines were established from the synovium of RA patients.