Investigation of the role of tumour necrosis factor-{alpha}, interleukin-1{beta}, interleukin-10, nitric oxide and rheumatoid factor-immunoglobulin M in a rat model of arthritis.
Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats is a widely used preclinical animal model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, CIA development in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats is less severe in terms of inflammatory response compared with other strains. Therefore, a modified CIA model called MCIA, using N-acetylmuramyl dipeptide (MDP), has been developed in the less sensitive SD rat strains. This work was conducted to better understand the immunopathological role and contributions of the pro-inflammatory T-helper type 1 (Th-1) cytokines and inflammatory mediators, interleukin-1 (IL-1beta), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and nitric oxide (NO); the anti-inflammatory T-helper type 2 (Th-2) cytokine, IL-10 and autoantibodies such as rheumatoid factor (RF)-immunoglobulin M (IgM) in this newly developed RA model. TNF-alpha, NO and RF-IgM levels were significantly increased, while IL-1beta levels were not affected in this MCIA rat model. The levels of IL-10 were lower than the baseline when compared with controls.


CONCLUSIONS
(1) the immunological features represented in the MCIA rat model favour the Th-1 cytokine profile over Th-2 and (2) RF-IgM can be used as a diagnostic test in preclinical RA models.
Khalifeh
M S
MS
Department of Basic Veterinary Medical Science, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. mskn@just.edu.jo
Al-Rukibat
R
R
Hananeh
W
W
Boumezrag
A
A
Okour
O
O
D000818:Animals; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor