Evaluation of immune complexes and collagen type-specific antibodies in sera and synovial fluids of horses with secondary osteoarthritis.
Thirty-one horses with secondary osteoarthritis as a sequel of trauma (chip fractures) or osteochondritis dissecans were screened for immune complexes (IC) and anticollagen antibodies. Eighty-two percent of horses with joint disease had circulating C1q-binding IC; 77% of those horses had IC in synovial fluids of affected joints. Although only a few horses had anticollagen type-II antibodies, anticollagen type-I antibodies were found in sera of 25% of the horses and in 41% of their synovial fluids. This correlated well with the clinical data and suggested that antibodies might have been elicited by antigens derived from detached intra-articular osteochondral fragments. Immunologic reactivity is a new concept in equine secondary osteoarthritis and might be involved in the mechanisms of chronic inflammation and progressive collagen destruction in degenerative joint disease.
Niebauer
G W
GW
Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104.
Wolf
B
B
Yarmush
M
M
Richardson
D W
DW
D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000032:analysis*; D003094:Collagen / Q000276:immunology*; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D006736:Horses; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000276:immunology
D000906:Antibodies; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D003094:Collagen