YERSINIA-ENTEROCOLITICA - A CAUSE OF CHRONIC POLYARTHRITIS

To investigate the role of Yersinia persistence in chronic undifferent iated arthritis, two patients who had chronic undifferentiated polyart hritis and circulating IgA and IgG antibodies to Yersinia outer protei ns were studied, Immunofluorescence using antibodies directed against Yersinia adhesin A was performed on colonic and synovial tissue, Synov ial tissue T cells were cloned aspecifically and screened for their pr oliferative responses to Yersinia enterocolitica, Furthermore, a Yersi nia-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed on synovial tissue, Both patients were found to have Yersinia antigens in colonic and synovial tissue, Y, enterocolitica-positive T-cell clones were gr own from the synovial tissue: 4 CD4(+) clones of 37 clones from patien t 1 and 6 CD4(+) clones of 53 clones from patient 2, Yersinia-specific PCR products were not detected in the synovial tissue specimens, The results support the hypothesis that an immune-mediated response to Yer sinia antigens may play an important role in the pathogenesis of chron ic undifferentiated arthritis.