Polzer K, Baeten D, Soleiman A, Distler J, Gerlag D M, Tak P P, Schett G, Zwerina J
Department of Internal Medicine 3 and Institute for Clinical Immunology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Ann Rheum Dis. 2008 Nov;67(11):1610-6. doi: 10.1136/ard.2007.083394. Epub 2008 Jan 3.
To investigate the presence and regulation of lymphatic vessels in inflamed joints of mice with experimental arthritis as well as patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA).
Lymphatic vessels and blood vessels were assessed in synovial tissue of human tumour necrosis factor transgenic (TNFtg) mice and synovial biopsies from patients with RA and SpA by immunohistochemistry for podoplanin and CD31, respectively. Assessments were performed before and after TNF blockade in all biopsies.
Lymphatic vessels were abundantly present in the synovial tissue of hTNFtg mice as well as patients with RA and SpA. The number of lymphatic vessels was positively related to the severity of synovial inflammation. Treatment with infliximab led to an increase in the formation of lymphatic vessels in murine and human inflammatory tissue.
This study shows that TNF blockade promotes the proliferation of lymphatic vessels in the inflamed synovium of RA and SpA. This finding leads to the assumption that promotion of lymphangiogenesis may play an important part in efflux of cells and fluid out of the inflamed tissue.
研究实验性关节炎小鼠以及类风湿关节炎（RA）和脊柱关节炎（SpA）患者炎症关节中淋巴管的存在情况及其调控机制。
分别通过免疫组织化学检测血小板内皮细胞黏附分子（Podoplanin）和CD31，评估人肿瘤坏死因子转基因（TNFtg）小鼠滑膜组织以及RA和SpA患者滑膜活检组织中的淋巴管和血管。对所有活检组织在肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）阻断前后进行评估。
hTNFtg小鼠以及RA和SpA患者的滑膜组织中大量存在淋巴管。淋巴管数量与滑膜炎症严重程度呈正相关。英夫利昔单抗治疗导致小鼠和人类炎症组织中淋巴管形成增加。
本研究表明，TNF阻断可促进RA和SpA炎症滑膜中淋巴管的增殖。这一发现提示，促进淋巴管生成可能在炎症组织中细胞和液体的流出中起重要作用。
