title: Mycoplasma fermentans glycolipid-antigen as a pathogen of rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Mycoplasma fermentans has been suspected as one of the causative pathogenic microorganisms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) however, the pathogenic mechanism is still unclear. We, previously, reported that glycolipid-antigens (GGPL-I and III) are the major antigens of M. fermentans. Monoclonal antibody against the GGPL-III could detect the existence of the GGPL-III antigens in synovial tissues from RA patients. GGPL-III antigens were detected in 38.1% (32/84) of RA patient's tissues, but not in osteoarthritis (OA) and normal synovial tissues. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that a part of GGPL-III antigens are located at endoplasmic reticulum. GGPL-III significantly induced TNF-alpha and IL-6 production from peripheral blood mononulear cells, and also proliferation of synovial fibroblasts. Further study is necessary to prove that M. fermentans is a causative microorganism of RA; however, the new mechanisms of disease pathogenesis provides hope for the development of effective and safe immunotherapeutic strategies based on the lipid-antigen, GGPL-III, in the near future.
authors.affiliation: Inflammation and Immunology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-ku, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 602-0841, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawahito
authors.forename: Sizuko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ichinose
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Yasunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsubouchi
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohno
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Daisaku
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hojo
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Harasawa
authors.forename: Teruaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016858:Mycoplasma fermentans / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C106372:1''-phosphocholine-2''-aminodihydroxypropane-3''-phospho-6'-glucopyranosyl-(1'-3)-1,2-dipalmitoylglycerol; D006017:Glycolipids