Autoimmunity to collagen in adjuvant arthritis of rats.

Arthritis can be induced in rats by intradermal injection of oil containing bacterial derivatives (adjuvant-induced arthritis) or cartilage collagen (type II collagen-induced arthritis). It was of interest, therefore, to determine whether collagen functions as an autoantigen in rats with adjuvant arthritis. Blood mononuclear cells from the majority of rats with adjuvant arthritis exhibited enhanced thymidine incorporation to homologous types I and II collagens, as well as to purified protein derivative of tuberculin. In contrast, cells from rats remaining nonarthritic after injection of adjuvant did not respond to collagen, although they did react to tuberculin. Similar results were obtained with a radiometric ear assay used to quantify intradermal delayed-type hypersensitivity in vivo. Using passive hemagglutination, autoantibodies to these collagens and their denatured alpha-chains were frequently detected in the sera of rats late in the course of adjuvant arthritis. Rats with inflammation of a hindlimb induced by turpentine did not acquire sensitivity to collagen. These data indicate that autoimmunity to collagen is a common feature of adjuvant- and collagen-induced arthritis, both of which are considered to be mediated by immunologic mechanisms.