Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China.
Department of Anesthesiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China.
Int Immunopharmacol. 2023 Jul;120:110268. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110268. Epub 2023 May 16.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease involving multiple joints. RA is a systemic disease characterized by chronic synovial inflammation and destruction of articular cartilage and bone. As a new pollutant, microplastics can enter the body through the respiratory and digestive tract and cause health damage. However, to date, the impact of microplastics on RA has not been revealed. Therefore, in the current research, we explored the impact of microplastics on RA. First, FLS (fibroblast-like synoviocytes) from RA was isolated and identified. FLS has been used as a cell model in vivo to study the potential impact of microplastics on FLS. Therefore, a series of biochemical experiments have been carried out, such as indirect immunofluorescence, western blotting and flow cytometry. First, we found that microplastics promote the proliferation of RA-FLSs through the MTT assay and the detection of cell proliferation markers and the cell cycle analysis through flow cytometry. On this basis, further research showed that microplastics also promoted the invasion and migration ability of RA-FLSs through Transwell experiments. In addition, microplastics also promote the secretion of inflammatory factors in RA-FLSs. In in vivo studies, the effect of microplastics on RA cartilage damage was evaluated. The results showed that RA cartilage damage was aggravated by microplastics, as determined by Alcian blue, toluidine blue and safranin O-fast green staining. Current research shows that microplastics, as a new pollutant, can promote sustained damage in RA.
类风湿关节炎（RA）是一种累及多个关节的自身免疫性疾病。RA 是一种全身性疾病，其特征为慢性滑膜炎症及关节软骨和骨的破坏。作为一种新型污染物，微塑料可以通过呼吸道和消化道进入体内，造成健康损害。然而，迄今为止，微塑料对 RA 的影响尚未被揭示。因此，在目前的研究中，我们探讨了微塑料对 RA 的影响。首先，从 RA 中分离和鉴定了成纤维样滑膜细胞（FLS）。FLS 已被用作体内研究微塑料对 FLS 潜在影响的细胞模型。因此，进行了一系列生化实验，如间接免疫荧光、western blot 和流式细胞术。首先，我们通过 MTT 检测和流式细胞术检测细胞增殖标志物和细胞周期分析发现，微塑料通过 MTT 检测促进 RA-FLSs 的增殖。在此基础上，进一步的研究表明，微塑料还通过 Transwell 实验促进 RA-FLSs 的侵袭和迁移能力。此外，微塑料还促进 RA-FLSs 中炎症因子的分泌。在体内研究中，评估了微塑料对 RA 软骨损伤的影响。结果表明，微塑料加重了 RA 软骨损伤，通过阿尔辛蓝、甲苯胺蓝和番红 O-快绿染色来确定。目前的研究表明，作为一种新型污染物，微塑料可以促进 RA 的持续损伤。
