ABSTRACT
[ ABSTRACT]
AIM:
To establish an
animal model of
rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) in DBA/1
mice induced by im-munodominant mixed
peptides derived from
glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI).
METHODS:
The DBA/1
mice were immunized with emulsified mixed
peptide fragments of hGPI 325-339+hGPI469-483 or single
peptide hGPI325-339 in com-plete Freund′s adjuvant by
subcutaneous injection to induce the model of RA .
Body weight ,
ankle joint symptom scores , the pathological change of the
ankle joint , the levels of CD4 +
T cells in the
spleen and peripheral
blood , the proportion of iNKT
cells in the peripheral
blood , and the levels of TNF-αand
IL-6 in
serum were detected to evaluate and analyze the model.
RESULTS:
The hind paw of the model
mice appeared red swelling on the 8th day, and then aggravated gradually to the
limbs.The red swelling reached peak on the 14th day, and then relieved gradually .
Inflammation response dominated by
lymphocytes and
monocytes was observed in the
ankle joint .The inflammatory effect of mixed
peptides was more obvious than that of the single one (P<0.05).Compared with
control group and the
mice treated with single
peptide , the
weight gain was slow, the amount of CD4 +
T cells in the peripheral
blood and
spleen were increased , the proportion of peripheral iNKT
cells in the inflammatory peak was decreased (P<0.05), and the
serum level of TNF-αwas increased significantly ( P<0.05) in the
mice treated with mixed
peptide fragments .
CONCLUSION:
The immunological characteristics of RA model induced by mixed GPI
peptides in DBA/1
mice is closer to that in RA
patients , especially in the immunopathology of iNKT
cells.Therefore, this model can be used as a new tool for studying the mechanism and immunological intervention of RA.