Clonal analysis of B cells in the osteoarthritis synovium

Objectives-Cellular and humoral immunity to collagen and cartilage proteogl ycan were shown in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Inflammatory infiltra tion containing T and B lymphocytes and macrophages, which are HLA-DR posit ive, is often seen in the synovial membrane of patients with OA. An analysi s of the DNA restriction enzyme patterns of T lymphocytes from the OA synov ium showed an oligoclonal pattern of T cell receptor beta chain gene rearra ngements. No similar studies of B cell clonality have previously been perfo rmed. This study aimed at determining the clonal characteristics of the B c ells in the OA synovium. Methods-A reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction of the immunoglob ulin transcripts of B cells in the synovial membranes from six patients wit h OA was performed and the products were analysed by a single strand confor mation polymorphism analysis. Results-Several dominant bands were seen in all samples and some of the dom inant bands were common among the two or three separate regions of each syn ovial sample. Conclusion-Infiltrated B cells are oligoclonal, and an antigen driven immun e response may play a part in the progression of the disease process in OA.