Nicolas Andry Award, 1984. Deleterious interactions of immune complexes in cartilage of experimental immune arthritis. I. The erosion of pannus-free hyaline cartilage.

Immune complexes were detected by plain and immunoelectron microscopy amongst electron-dense material that rapidly formed and extended over and into the cartilaginous surfaces of immune arthritic rabbits' knees. The sinuous extension of electron-dense material into the surface matrix was associated with fragmentation and detachment, resulting in erosions. The findings implicate the formation of immune complexes in the destructive process of the matrix. Since the eroded pannus-free matrix of rheumatoid cartilage surfaces contains extensive concentrations of immune complexes, the data of this immune arthritis model suggest a causative relation between immune complexes and matrix loss in rheumatoid arthritis.