Hyaluronic acid produced by human synovial fibroblasts. Effect of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) and interferon.

Poly I:C (polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid) stimulated hyaluronic acid production by rheumatoid and non-rheumatoid human synovial fibroblasts. Stimulation was dose dependent and was inhibited by acetylsalicyclic acid and indomethacin. Poly I and Poly C, when separately added, had no stimulatory effect on hyaluronic acid production, and Poly A:U had only a slight effect on this parameter. Cells grown with Poly I:C were virus resistant and interferon was detected in their medium. Human interferon had also a dose-dependent stimulatory effect on hyaluronic acid production by synovial cells. A possible interferon-mediated relationship between virus infection and pathologic accumulation of joint fluid is suggested.