Teodorescu M, Gaspar A, Spear G, Skosey J L, Ganea D
Arthritis Rheum. 1984 Oct;27(10):1122-9. doi: 10.1002/art.1780271007.
We have shown previously that serum from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) contains a polyclonal B cell activator that is associated with alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M). Some biologic effects of this activator appear to be due to a trypsin-like protease attached to alpha 2M. Therefore, in the present study, we used an anti-alpha 2M antibody solid-phase assay, with Chromozym-Try as a substrate, to determine the level of alpha 2M-protease complexes in plasma alpha 2M. We found higher levels of these complexes in RA patients than in 2 control groups. Since alpha 2M-protease complexes have been shown to induce RA-like inflammation in experimental animals and to be produced by lymphoid cells, we speculate that they may be involved in the pathogenesis of RA. However, the role of the other cells or enzyme systems in the formation of these complexes has not yet been ruled out. Results of these investigations could lead to another link between activation of the immune system and joint inflammation.
我们之前已经表明，类风湿关节炎（RA）患者的血清中含有一种与α2-巨球蛋白（α2M）相关的多克隆B细胞激活剂。这种激活剂的一些生物学效应似乎是由于附着在α2M上的一种类胰蛋白酶所致。因此，在本研究中，我们使用以Chromozym-Try为底物的抗α2M抗体固相测定法，来测定血浆α2M中α2M-蛋白酶复合物的水平。我们发现RA患者中这些复合物的水平高于两个对照组。由于α2M-蛋白酶复合物已被证明可在实验动物中诱导类风湿关节炎样炎症，并且由淋巴细胞产生，我们推测它们可能参与了类风湿关节炎的发病机制。然而，尚未排除其他细胞或酶系统在这些复合物形成中的作用。这些研究结果可能会揭示免疫系统激活与关节炎症之间的另一种联系。
