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Toxicity of complement for chondrocytes. A possible source of cartilage degradation in inflammatory arthritis

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Summary

Cartilage from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and from animals with antigen-induced arthritis is frequently contaminated with complement-containing immune complexes. A possible role for complement activation in cartilage degradation was modeled in vitro by exposing cultured bovine chondrocytes to homologous serum, and determining cytotoxicity by monitoring the release of intracellular 51Cr. Complement activation was found to be cytotoxic, having maximal effect at 20–30% serum by 18 h. Serum toxicity was ablated by heat (50°C, 20 min) or methylamine treatment but not by EGTA, suggesting that in these experiments activation occurred by the alternate route. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to ultrastructural evidence for the involvement of complement in the pathogenesis of cartilage degradation in inflammatory arthritis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Queen's University, K7L 3N6, Kingston, Ont, Canada

    S. Satsuma, R. A. Scudamore, T. D. V. Cooke & R. Saura

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Queen's University, K7L 3N6, Kingston, Ont, Canada

    W. P. Aston

Authors
  1. S. Satsuma
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  2. R. A. Scudamore
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  3. T. D. V. Cooke
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  4. W. P. Aston
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  5. R. Saura
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Satsuma, S., Scudamore, R.A., Cooke, T.D.V. et al. Toxicity of complement for chondrocytes. A possible source of cartilage degradation in inflammatory arthritis. Rheumatol Int 13, 71–75 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307737

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307737

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