Flare up of joint inflammations induced by cloned helper T cells. Retention of the helper T cells.

Joint inflammations were induced in mice by intra articular (ia) injection of cloned helper T cells specific for methylated bovine serum albumin (mBSA) together with mBSA. Local injection of mBSA several weeks after waning of a joint inflammation induced by cloned helper T cells caused a flare up reaction. This indicates that the helper T cells persisted in the joint after the primary inflammation. In the present paper we show that the helper T cells can also persist for some time in a knee joint in the absence of the specific antigen and/or an inflammatory reaction.