Immunocytochemical study on the immune complex and germinal center of synovial tissue of rheumatoid arthritis with special regard to complement and follicular dendritic cells.

To analyze the immunological role of lymphoid germinal centers and follicular dendritic cells (FDC) in synovial tissue of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we tried to detect the immune complex in germinal centers by light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry with special emphasis on immunoglobulin, complement components, RA factor, and DRC-1 antigen. Immunoglobulins mainly distributed intercellularly in the germinal center in a lacy network pattern, and show partial intracytoplasmic localization in some germinal center lymphoid cells. Early complement components of classical pathway (C1q, C4, C3c, and C3d) and RA factor distributed lacily similarily to immunoglobulin, but intracytoplasmic positivity is never observed. These coexistent positive sites are identical to DRC-1 positive sites which are the surface of extended processes of FDC membrane. A similar finding is observed in primary follicles or lymphoid aggregates less often than germinal centers. These results indicate that some germinal centers trap the immune complex, including RA factor at least closely related with FDCs, and also RA factor is one of the triggers of antigen as well as developing germinal centers.