Laboratory of Epigenetic Skeletal Diseases, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2013 May 17;434(4):740-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2013.03.111. Epub 2013 Apr 11.
The pathology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is ameliorated during pregnancy and deteriorated after delivery. Thus, female sex hormones could be involved in the pathogenesis of RA. However, the effects of estrogen and progesterone on the development and progression of RA have been unclear. In this study, we analyzed the effects of female hormones on the pathogenesis of RA by performing ovariectomy (OVX) and hormone implantation in the SKG mouse model of human RA. OVX mice showed severe arthritis and cartilage destruction with increased serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6, when compared with sham-operated mice. In contrast, estrogen-treated mice exhibited remarkable suppression of arthritis, with no bone erosion, little synovial hyperplasia and little infiltration of immune cells. Moreover, serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were decreased. In progesterone-treated mice, mild synovial hyperplasia and no immune cell infiltration were observed, with decreased serum levels of IL-6. These results suggest that female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, can play roles in the remission of RA.
类风湿关节炎（RA）的病理学在妊娠期间得到改善，而在分娩后恶化。因此，女性性激素可能参与 RA 的发病机制。然而，雌激素和孕激素对 RA 的发展和进展的影响尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们通过对人类 RA 的 SKG 小鼠模型进行卵巢切除术（OVX）和激素植入，分析了女性激素对 RA 发病机制的影响。与假手术组相比，OVX 小鼠表现出严重的关节炎和软骨破坏，血清 TNF-α 和 IL-6 水平升高。相比之下，雌激素治疗的小鼠关节炎明显受到抑制，没有骨质侵蚀，滑膜增生和免疫细胞浸润很少。此外，血清 TNF-α 和 IL-6 水平降低。在孕激素治疗的小鼠中，观察到轻度的滑膜增生，没有免疫细胞浸润，IL-6 水平降低。这些结果表明，女性性激素，雌激素和孕激素，可在 RA 的缓解中发挥作用。
