title: Elevated levels of collagenase and prostaglandin E2 from synovium associated with erosion of cartilage and bone in a patient with chronic Lyme arthritis.
abstract: A patient with chronic Lyme arthritis and roentgenographic evidence of bony erosion underwent a synovectomy; proliferative synovium (pannus), containing aggregates of small lymphocytes, was found adherent to eroded cartilage and bone. During 8 days in tissue culture, the synovial cells produced large amounts of collagenase and prostaglandin E2, but only low levels of both neutral and acid proteinases. Sixty-seven percent of the lymphocytes from the synovium were T cells; 19% were B cells. Attempts to identify agent/antigen in the synovial cells were unsuccessful. Thus, the synovium of this patient, whose disease appears to be tick-transmitted, resembles that of rheumatoid arthritis. This finding further supports the hypothesis that many possible agents, including infectious ones, trigger a common pathway in synovium, which leads to joint destruction.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000032:analysis / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000032:analysis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007717:Knee / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D003012:Microbial Collagenase / Q000032:analysis*; D011458:Prostaglandins E / Q000032:analysis*; D011859:Radiography; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011458:Prostaglandins E; D003012:Microbial Collagenase