Sex hormonal effects on the severity of streptococcal cell wall-induced polyarthritis in the rat

✍ Scribed by Janice B. Allen; Duane Blatter; Gary B. Calandra; Ronald L. Wilder

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 350 KB
• Volume: 26
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780260418

✦ Synopsis

Peptidoglycan-polysaccharide fragments derived from cell walls of bacteria such as group A, but not group D, streptococci are arthritogenic in certain laboratory animals. For instance, systemic administration of these fragments into rats may induce a chronic polyarthritis which clinically, histologically, and radiologically resembles rheumatoid arthritis (1.2). The arthritis is bilaterally symmetric, involves peripheral and not axial joints, and is characterized by extensive synovial proliferation along with marginal joint erosion. In studying the genetic and immunologic mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of this experimental model, we have previously shown that susceptibility to arthritis induction is highly dependent upon strain and sex. For example, inbred LEWM female rats are highly susceptible, whereas LEW/N males and F344M males and females are relatively resistant (2). This report presents data which demonstrate that the sexlinked effects are mediated in large part by sex hormones and not by "immune response genes" linked to the X or Y chromosomes.