Reumatismo (Sep 2011)

CTLA4-Ig interferes and downregulates the proinflammatory activities of rheumatoid synovial macrophages in monoculture

  • L. Felli,
  • L. Molfetta,
  • P. Clerico,
  • P.F. Triolo,
  • B. Villaggio,
  • B. Seriolo,
  • A. Sulli,
  • P. Montagna,
  • S. Soldano,
  • R. Brizzolara,
  • M. Cutolo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2011.80
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 63, no. 2
pp. 80 – 85

Abstract

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Objective: CTLA4-Ig, a biologic agent employed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment, downregulates the immune response and exerts anti-inflammatory effects acting on different cells including dendritic/T cells interaction and directly on osteoclasts. We investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of CTLA4-Ig in primary monocultures of RA synovial macrophages (SM). Methods SM were obtained, from 8 RA patients (7 F, 1 M; DAS28>5.2) who underwent therapeutic arthroscopic synoviectomy and were cultured in the absence and in the presence of CTLA4-Ig at the concentration of [500 μg/ml], the most reliable dose related to the previous pharmacological clinical and experimental experiences. Inflammatory cytokine (IL-6, TNFalpha, IL-1beta) expression was evaluated by immunocytochemistry (ICC with relative image analysis), western blot (WB), and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: ICC analysis revealed that CTLA4-Ig treatment significantly downregulated cytokine expression (p<0.001 for IL-6, TNFalpha and IL-1beta) when compared to untreated RA SM. WB and qRT-PCR confirmed partially the data. Conclusions: CTLA4-Ig was found to exert a direct and significant anti-inflammatory effect on primary monocultures of RA SM, suggesting a therapeutic power in different phases of the disease activity.

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