HYPOTHESIS - INVITRO EVIDENCE FOR THE INVASIVE AND TUMOR-LIKE PROPERTIES OF THE RHEUMATOID PANNUS

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 10  (6) , 845-851
Abstract
The inflammatory processes in the rheumatoid synovium apparently are due to an immune response to an as yet unknown antigen; the resultant pannus was referred to as aggressive, invasive, proliferative and tumor-like. Data are presented which show that arthritogenic group A streptococal cell walls stimulate human monocyte-macrophages to elevate the plasminogen activator (PA) activity of human synoviocytes. By analogy with other cellular systems, it is suggested that the monocyte-macrophage mediated elevation of synoviocyte PA activity can contribute to the tissue remodelling and cell migration found in the rheumatoid pannus. The active moiety from the stimulated monocyte-macrophages is able to mimic, to some extent, the effects of transforming viruses and tumor promotors on cell function. This concept of a tumor-like synoviocyte transformation is suggested as being consistent with the descriptions of the rheumatoid pannus as aggressive, invasive and tumor-like. Perhaps similar cellular interactions occur in other inflammatory diseases involving connective tissue turnover and cellular hyperplasia.