Features of the synovium of individuals at risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis: implications for understanding preclinical rheumatoid arthritis.
Arthritis Rheumatol
; 66(3): 513-22, 2014 Mar.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24574210
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Findings from previous studies have suggested that subclinical inflammation of the synovium does not coincide with the appearance of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-specific autoantibodies. This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between the presence of autoantibodies, changes in the synovium, and development of arthritis over time in a markedly larger, prospective study.METHODS:
Fifty-five individuals who were IgM rheumatoid factor positive and/or anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) positive (detected by the anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody test) and who were without any evidence of arthritis upon physical examination were included in the study. ACPAs were subsequently also detected using a multiplex chip-based assay. All individuals underwent magnetic resonance imaging and mini-arthroscopic synovial biopsy sampling of a knee joint at inclusion and were prospectively followed up. Proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to investigate whether changes in the synovium were associated with the onset of arthritis.RESULTS:
Fifteen individuals (27%) developed arthritis after a median followup time of 13 months (interquartile range 6-27 months; range 1-47 months). No overt synovial inflammation was observed, but CD3+ T cell numbers in the biopsy tissue showed a borderline association with subsequent development of clinically manifest arthritis (hazard ratio 2.8, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.9-9.1; P = 0.088). In addition, the presence of CD8+ T cells was associated with ACPA positivity (odds ratio [OR] 16.0, 95% CI 1.7-151.1) and with the total number of ACPAs present (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0-1.8).CONCLUSION:
These findings confirm and extend previous results showing the absence of clearcut synovial inflammation in individuals having systemic autoimmunity associated with RA. However, subtle infiltration by synovial T cells may precede the signs and symptoms of arthritis in preclinical RA.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Peptides, Cyclic
/
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
/
Autoantibodies
/
Synovial Membrane
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Arthritis Rheumatol
Year:
2014
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Netherlands