RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS AND OSTEO-ARTHRITIS SYNOVIAL-FLUID EFFECTS ON PRIMARY HUMAN-ENDOTHELIAL CELL-CULTURES

  • 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 12  (2) , 237-241
Abstract
Since vascular proliferation may be important in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and/or osteoarthritis (OA), this study examined the induction of angiogenesis by these synovial fluids (SF). Four of 11 (36%) RA and 2 of 6 (33%) OA SF caused early morphological changes in human endothelial cell cultures. SF from 7 of 11 (63%) RA and 4 of 8 (50%) OA patients resulted in the late formation of tabular networks morphologically resembling capillaries observed in vivo. Early morphological changes in cultures were associated with a significantly (P < 0.05) longer duration of disease in patients with RA. Factors present in the SF of RA and OA patients may play a role in the excessive vascularization which often occurs in these arthropathies.