title: Cytokines in chronic inflammatory arthritis. III. Rheumatoid arthritis monocytes are not unusually sensitive to gamma-interferon, but have defective gamma-interferon-mediated HLA-DQ and HLA-DR induction.
abstract: Macrophages present in the synovium and synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) express large amounts of HLA-DR molecules on their surface, despite low levels of gamma-interferon (gamma-IFN) in the joint. To determine whether this apparent paradox is the result of increased sensitivity to gamma-IFN in RA, we compared concentrations of gamma-IFN that induced HLA-DR and DQ on peripheral blood monocytes of RA patients and normal donors, using fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. Among normal donors, highly variable sensitivity to gamma-IFN was observed. Higher amounts of gamma-IFN were required to induce class II major histocompatibility complex molecules on RA monocytes versus normal monocytes. The maximum amount of HLA-DR that could be induced on RA and normal monocytes was similar; however, peak levels of HLA-DQ were significantly less in RA. Monocytes from patients with other forms of chronic inflammatory arthritis had intermediate HLA-DQ expression after gamma-IFN treatment. These data suggest that an increased sensitivity to gamma-IFN in RA does not account for the high level of HLA-DR expression in the joint. Also, a defect in HLA-DQ and HLA-DR induction by gamma-IFN was observed.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bergroth
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Zvaifler
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Firestein
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D001685:Biological Factors / Q000276:immunology*; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001685:Biological Factors; D016207:Cytokines; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D003907:Dexamethasone; D007371:Interferon-gamma