Arthritogenicity, as determined by joint swelling and synovial histology, was compared between or within two Borrelia genospecies that cause Lyme arthritis in humans. The spirochete burden in bladder tissue (a site of spirochete persistence) was documented by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and immune responses were analyzed. In C3H/HeJ mice, three B. burgdorferi isolates and two of the...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the influence of fasting on the antigen specific immune responsiveness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy volunteers. METHODS Seven rheumatoid arthritis patients and 17 healthy volunteers were immunised perorally or parenterally with influenza virus vaccine after a three to six day long period of total energy deprivation (water fast). The subsequent antige...

In 1977, Trentham et al. (1) described a model of polyarthritis induced in rats by immunization with type II collagen. The lesions identified on histopathologic examination resembled those of human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 1. In addition, the arthritis was associated with high levels of both cellular and humoral immunity to collagen (2). Since collagen-related autoimmunity has also been descri...

Introduction Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a primary immune deficiency that characterized with recurrent infections and granuloma formation. A variety of autoimmune disorders and immune-mediated phenomena such as inflammatory bowel disease, discoid lupus erythematous, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Ig A nephropathy, sarcoidosis, rheumatoid arthritis, idiopathic thrombocytopenia, eosino...

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology characterized by chronic inflammation in the joints and subsequent destruction of the cartilage and bone. The present study proposes a new strategy for the treatment of arthritis: the administration of the immunomodulatory neuropeptide adrenomedullin. Treatment with adrenomedullin significantly reduced incidence and severi...

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is one of the initial and rate-limiting enzymes involved in the catabolism of the essential amino acid tryptophan. In cultured cells, the induction of IDO leads to depletion of tryptophan and tryptophan starvation. Recent studies suggest that modulation of tryptophan concentration via IDO plays a fundamental role in innate immune responses. Induction of IDO by ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical for immune homeostasis. To target DCs, we generated a mouse line with Flip deficiency in cells that express cre under the CD11c promoter (CD11c-Flip-KO). CD11c-Flip-KO mice spontaneously develop erosive, inflammatory arthritis, resembling rheumatoid arthritis, which is dramatically reduced when these mice are crossed with Rag(-/-) mice. The CD8α(+) DC subset i...

Mast cells are immune sentinels that participate in the defense against bacteria and parasites. Resident within the joint, mast cells become activated in human rheumatoid arthritis and are implicated in the pathogenesis of experimental murine synovitis. However, their arthritogenic role remains undefined. Using a model of autoantibody-induced arthritis, we show that mast cells contribute to the...

Antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis may result from Borrelia burgdorferi-induced autoimmunity in affected joints. Such patients usually have certain HLA-DRB1 molecules that bind an epitope of B. burgdorferi outer-surface protein A (OspA₁₆₃₋₁₇₅), and cellular and humoral immune responses to OspA are greater in patients with antibiotic-refractory arthritis than in those with antibiotic-responsiv...

Receptors for immunoglobulin (Ig)G (FcgammaRs) are important for the antibody-mediated effector functions of the immune system. FcgammaRI and FcgammaRIII trigger cell activation through a common gamma chain, whereas FcgammaRII acts as a negative regulator of antibody production and immune complex-triggered activation. Here we describe the in vivo consequences of FcgammaR deficiency in a mouse m...