Holoshitz J, Klajman A, Drucker I, Lapidot Z, Yaretzky A, Frenkel A, van Eden W, Cohen I R
Lancet. 1986 Aug 9;2(8502):305-9. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90003-6.
An acetone-precipitable fraction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cross-reacts with human cartilage. Immune responses to this antigen were assessed in 34 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 16 patients with degenerative joint disease, and 15 healthy controls. The RA patients differed from the other two groups in having more pronounced T lymphocyte responses to the antigen; their serum antibody levels were not higher. The responses of RA patients varied with duration of disease. In the first year (7 patients) T lymphocyte reactivity was increased in the synovial exudates of affected joints but not in peripheral blood, whereas the 19 with disease of 1-10 years' duration showed high reactivity in peripheral blood; in the 8 with disease for more than 10 years, lymphocyte reactivity did not differ from that in the patients with degenerative joint disease or the healthy controls. The observation that the three groups did not differ in their responses to streptococci and a T-cell mitogen indicates that reactivity of the RA patients to the mycobacterial fraction was specific. These results raise the possibility that bacterial antigens cross-reactive with cartilage proteoglycans may be relevant to the pathogenesis of RA.
结核分枝杆菌的一种可被丙酮沉淀的组分与人体软骨存在交叉反应。在34例类风湿关节炎患者、16例退行性关节疾病患者及15名健康对照者中评估了针对该抗原的免疫反应。类风湿关节炎患者与其他两组的不同之处在于，他们对该抗原具有更明显的T淋巴细胞反应；其血清抗体水平并未更高。类风湿关节炎患者的反应随疾病病程而变化。在患病第一年（7例患者），受累关节滑膜渗出液中的T淋巴细胞反应性增加，但外周血中未增加，而病程为1至10年的19例患者外周血中显示出高反应性；病程超过10年的8例患者，淋巴细胞反应性与退行性关节疾病患者或健康对照者无异。三组对链球菌和一种T细胞有丝分裂原的反应无差异这一观察结果表明，类风湿关节炎患者对分枝杆菌组分的反应具有特异性。这些结果增加了与软骨蛋白聚糖发生交叉反应的细菌抗原可能与类风湿关节炎发病机制相关的可能性。
