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Disease Activity Related Catecholamine Response of Lymphocytes from Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Author(s) -
WAHLE M.,
KRAUSE A.,
ULRICHS T.,
JONAS D.,
WICHERT P.,
BURMESTER G. R.,
BAERWALD C. G. O.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb07651.x
Subject(s) - rheumatoid arthritis , disease , catecholamine , medicine , immunology
In patients with chronic rheumatic diseases, a decreased density of β 2 ‐adrenergic receptors (β2R) on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) could be demonstrated negatively correlating with various disease activity parameters. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of this decrease on catecholamine response of PBMC from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in vitro . PBMC from 17 patients with RA and 6 healthy blood donors (HD) were investigated. The effects of epinephrine (E) and norepinephrine (NE) on PBMC proliferation were studied using cells activated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and monoclonal anti‐CD3‐antibodies (OKT3), respectively. The results revealed that lymphocytes of patients with RA showed a significantly reduced influence of catecholamines on PBMC function. In RA patients with high disease activity only, a shift to α 1 ‐adrenergic‐mediated catecholamine effects upon PBMC reactivity could be observed. The study demonstrates the intricate relationship between PBMC reactivity and catecholamine effects that is mediated via α‐ and β‐adrenergic receptors due to disease activity. In this respect the altered catecholamine response of PBMC from patients with RA may contribute to the pathogenic process of RA.