RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Long term persistent accumulation of CD8+ T cells in synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis
JF Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
JO Ann Rheum Dis
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and European League Against Rheumatism
SP 613
OP 620
DO 10.1136/ard.56.10.613
VO 56
IS 10
A1 Masuko-Hongo, Kayo
A1 Sekine, Taichi
A1 Ueda, Shinichiro
A1 Kobata, Tetsuji
A1 Yamamoto, Kazuhiko
A1 Nishioka, Kusuki
A1 Kato, Tomohiro
YR 1997
UL http://ard.bmj.com/content/56/10/613.abstract
AB OBJECTIVE To characterise the type and kinetics of T cell clones in synovial lesions of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Mononuclear cells from serial samples of synovial fluid (SF) and peripheral blood from nine RA patients were separated phenotypically using antibody coated magnetic beads. After mRNA preparation, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to amplify V-D(N)-J (that is, the third complementarity determining, CDR3) regions of their T cell receptor beta chain genes. This was followed by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis to detect the clonotypes of accumulating T cells. Amino acid sequences of the dominant clones were also determined. RESULTS Although peripheral T cells were heterogeneous, accumulation of oligoclonal T cells was detected in SF. The predominant accumulating clone was the CD8 subset, which was persistently present in serial samples obtained over almost one year of follow up. A proportion of these cells expressed CD25 or CD45RO, or both, suggesting they are ‘memory’ clones. CONCLUSION The persistent presence of CD8+ T cell clones in RA joints indicates that they may be involved in the perpetuation of the chronic inflammatory process in RA joints.