Isolation of Yersinia-specific T cell clones from the synovial membrane and synovial fluid of a patient with reactive arthritis.

Synovial fluid (SF) mononuclear cells from patients with reactive arthritis (ReA) proliferate in vitro when challenged with ReA-associated bacteria, the maximal response being for the organism causing the triggering infection. We report the results of a study of the antigenic specificity of synovial T lymphocytes from an HLA-B27 positive ReA patient whose SF mononuclear cells responded preferentially to Yersinia antigens. This is the first report of the isolation of Yersinia-specific T cell clones from synovial membrane (obtained by closed-needle synovial biopsy). We present a detailed analysis of these clones, together with others obtained from the SF.