Establishment of a Highly Reproducible Model of Human/Murine SCID Mouse Arthritis

Abstract

To establish a highly reproducible in vivo model of rhumatoid arthritis, synovial infiltrating cells obtained from patients with RA were transfered into several kinds of severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice and the incidence of destructive arthritis with pannus tissues was compared.
BALB/cA-bg, scid, BALB/cA-scid and CB-17-scid were used in this study. Synovial cell suspensions obtained from patients with RA, and synovial cells from patients with osteoarthritis were injected into the right knee joint and subcutanous of dorsal pedis of mice at the age of 6-7 weeks. Peripheral mononuclear cells (MNC) from healthy donors and patients with RA were injected as a control. Mice were sacrified after 5-11 weeks and histologic characteristics of their joints were examined.
Injection of synovial cell suspensions from patients with RA induced bone erosin and pannnus formation in the injected joints of three kinds of SCID mice. The highest incidence of pannus formation was 71% in male BALB/cA-bg, scid mice, compared to 44% in female BALB cA-bg, scid mice. Neither SIC from OA nor MNC from healthy donors and patients with RA induced destructive arthritis with pannus formation in any of mice. This technique represents a novel in vivo model of rheumatoid arthritis for the study of the cellular mechanisms involved in the destructive arthritis as well as for the evaluation of the effects of novel anti-rheumatic drugs.