RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Comorbid TNF-mediated heart valve disease and chronic polyarthritis share common mesenchymal cell-mediated aetiopathogenesis
JF Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
JO Ann Rheum Dis
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and European League Against Rheumatism
SP 926
OP 934
DO 10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212597
VO 77
IS 6
A1 Lydia Ntari
A1 Maria Sakkou
A1 Panagiotis Chouvardas
A1 Iordanis Mourouzis
A1 Alejandro Prados
A1 Maria C Denis
A1 Niki Karagianni
A1 Constantinos Pantos
A1 George Kollias
YR 2018
UL http://ard.bmj.com/content/77/6/926.abstract
AB Objectives Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritisshow higher mortality rates, mainly caused by cardiac comorbidities. The TghuTNF (Tg197) arthritis model develops tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-driven and mesenchymalsynovial fibroblast (SF)-dependent polyarthritis. Here, we investigate whether this model develops, similarly to human patients, comorbid heart pathology and explore cellular and molecular mechanisms linking arthritis to cardiac comorbidities.Methods Histopathological analysis and echocardiographic evaluation of cardiac function were performed in the Tg197 model. Valve interstitial cells (VICs) were targeted by mice carrying the ColVI-Cretransgene. Tg197 ColVI-Cre Tnfr1 fl/fl and Tg197 ColVI-Cre Tnfr1 cneo/cneo mutant mice were used to explore the role of mesenchymal TNF signalling in the development of heart valve disease. Pathogenic VICs and SFs were further analysed by comparative RNA-sequencing analysis.Results Tg197 mice develop left-sided heart valve disease, characterised by valvular fibrosis with minimal signs of inflammation. Thickened valve areas consist almost entirely of hyperproliferative ColVI-expressing mesenchymal VICs. Development of pathology results in valve stenosis and left ventricular dysfunction, accompanied by arrhythmic episodes and, occasionally, valvular regurgitation. TNF dependency of the pathology was indicated by disease modulation following pharmacological inhibition or mesenchymal-specific genetic ablation or activation of TNF/TNFR1 signalling. Tg197-derived VICs exhibited an activated phenotype ex vivo, reminiscent of the activated pathogenic phenotype of Tg197-derived SFs. Significant functional similarities between SFs and VICs were revealed by RNA-seq analysis, demonstrating common cellular mechanisms underlying TNF-mediated arthritides and cardiac comorbidities.Conclusions Comorbidheart valve disease and chronic polyarthritis are efficiently modelled in the Tg197 arthritis model and share common TNF/TNFR1-mediated, mesenchymal cell-specific aetiopathogenic mechanisms.