Polyarthritis in rats following the systemic injection of lactobacillus casei cell walls in aqueous suspension

✍ Scribed by Thomas J. A. Lehman; Janice B. Allen; Paul H. Plotz; Ronald L. Wilder

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 988 KB
• Volume: 26
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780261013

✦ Synopsis

Postdysenteric Reiter's syndrome and the arthritis associated with jejunal bypass surgery for obesity suggest that the gastrointestinal tract is a possible source of bacterial products capable of initiating chronic inflammatory arthritis. Lactobacillus casei, a common component of the enteric flora, has a cell wall structure similar to that of arthritogenic streptococci. In this study we have demonstrated that a single intraperitoneal injection of an aqueous suspension of the cell walls of Lactobacillus casei induces a dose-dependent, chronic, symmetric, erosive, peripheral polyarthritis in inbred LEW/N female rats. This model suggests that bacteria in the "normal enteric flora" may be a source of inflammatory products capable of inducing chronic erosive polyarthritis.