Characterisation of T cell clonotypes that accumulated in multiple joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective-To investigate whether identical T cell clonotypes accumulate in multiple rheumatoid joints, the clonality of T cells that had infiltrated i nto synovial tissue (ST) samples simultaneously obtained from multiple join ts of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was analysed. Methods-T cell receptor (TCR) beta gene transcripts, amplified by reverse t ranscription-polymerase chain reaction from ST and peripheral blood lymphoc ytes of five RA patients, were subjected to single strand conformation poly morphism analysis and DNA sequencing. Results-Approximately 40% of accumulated T cell clonotypes found in one joi nt of a patient were found in multiple joints in the same patient. Furtherm ore, identical amino acid sequences were found in TCR beta junctional regio ns of these clonotypes from different patients with at least one HLA molecu le match. Conclusions-The T cell clonotypes accumulating in multiple rheumatoid joint s may be involved in the perpetuation of polyarthritis by reacting to antig ens common to these multiple joints.