Regulatory T cell activity specific to human type II and III collagens in rheumatoid arthritis.
Fifty-one patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were examined for their immune response potential to human collagen type II and III. It was found that T cells of 57% of patients with RA proliferated to collagen type III whereas only 27% of T cells of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and healthy controls responded to this antigen by proliferation (p less than 0.04). A lower percentage (38%) of patients with RA had proliferative responses to collagen type II in comparison to 17% of responders in healthy controls. The capability to produce T cell helper factors specific to collagen type III was found to be significantly higher in patients treated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID) (60%) in comparison to patients with OA (16%) and healthy controls (13%). Immunoregulatory drugs affected the specific T helper function in response to collagen type III but did not change the proliferative responses to collagen type II and III in patients with RA. HLA analyses revealed a significant difference in the frequency of HLA-DRw10 between our sample of patients with RA and healthy controls.
Elkayam
O
O
Department of Chemical Immunology, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel.
Zinger
H
H
Zisman
E
E
Segal
R
R
Yaron
M
M
Brautbar
C
C
Mozes
E
E
D000917:Antibody Formation; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D003094:Collagen / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology
D006680:HLA Antigens; D003094:Collagen