Abstract
Summary
Cellular hypersensitivity to normal mouse synovial tissue was found in arthritic mice infected by iv injection of Mycoplasma pulmonis but not in uninfected normal mice. Hypersensitivity was determined by inhibition of migration of peritoneal macrophages in the presence of an antigen made from normal mouse synovium. Since, in a previous study, no correlation was found between the presence of mycoplasmas in arthritic joints and the extent of arthritis, this data suggests that both microbiological and immunological mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of the disease.
Addendum. An additional experiment was performed to test the specificity of the reaction to synovial antigen. Cells from 12 mice infected 14 to 35 weeks and 12 age-matched controls were incubated in the presence or absence of an antigen prepared from normal mouse kidney by the method outlined for synovial antigen. Using 12.5 μg/ml (the highest concentration not affecting cells from normal mice) the migration area from the infected animals with antigen was 65.47 ± 7.97 cm2; without antigen, 60.49 ± 5.58 cm2; controls with antigen 40.74 ± 4.25 cm2; without antigen 38.69 ± 3.05 cm2. Thus no significant effect was seen in either infected or control animals.
We thank Gussie Goldberg, Jessie Hardin, Mike Y. Kubota, Judy Noel, and Melvaline Oliver for their excellent technical assistance.
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