ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

Abstract Number: 1575

Transient Circulatory Existence of Multipotential Stromal Cells Is Unlikely to Contribute to the Pathogenesis of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sarah Churchman1, Sally Boxall1, Elena Jones1, Paul Emery1, Peter Giannoudis1,2 and Dennis McGonagle1, 1NIHR-Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit and Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds,, Leeds, United Kingdom, 2Academic Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Leeds, United Kingdom

Meeting: 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Date of first publication: September 28, 2016

Keywords:

Session Information

Date: Monday, November 14, 2016

Session Title: Rheumatoid Arthritis – Human Etiology and Pathogenesis - Poster II

Session Type: ACR Poster Session B

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose:  Circulating multipotential stromal cells (MSCs) also termed mesenchymal stem cells have previously been implicated in fibroblast mediated polyarticular joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We hypothesized that skeletal trauma (a biophysical process) rather than a biological basis related to RA may account for any MSC circulation.

Methods:  Deep (femoral) and matched peripheral (antecubital) vein blood was collected from 36 patients undergoing lower limb orthopaedic procedures. Peripheral blood was also taken from 15 early and 11 established RA patients as well as 12 healthy controls. Colony-forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F) assays and cytometric phenotyping of cells were performed. Molecular characterisation of genes related to MSC function was undertaken in comparison to MSCs from iliac crest and femoral marrows, bone, periosteum, adipose tissue and dermal fibroblasts.

Results:  17/36 femoral vein samples contained CFU-Fs, but only 7/74 peripheral vein samples almost exclusively from the orthopaedic cases with only a single peripheral blood colony from one established RA patient. The MSC nature of CFU-Fs was confirmed by expansion and phenotype: CD105/CD73/CD90 positivity and CD19/CD31/CD33/CD34/CD45/CD61 negativity. Their molecular profiles were typical of MSCs with 39/80 genes showing similarity across multiple MSC tissue controls; including osteogenesis-related ALPL, COL1A1, SPARC, adipogenic LPL, chondrogenic COL2A1, COL10A1, SOX9 and immature POU5F, NANOG, but not fibroblasts.

Conclusion:  There is no evidence that MSCs circulate in RA or health. Deep vein MSC numbers may relate to biophysical micro-damage to the trabecular vascular architecture caused by skeletal manipulation. Their numbers are so low that a biological role seems unlikely in early RA or other autoimmune diseases.

Disclosure: S. Churchman, None; S. Boxall, None; E. Jones, None; P. Emery, None; P. Giannoudis, None; D. McGonagle, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Churchman S, Boxall S, Jones E, Emery P, Giannoudis P, McGonagle D. Transient Circulatory Existence of Multipotential Stromal Cells Is Unlikely to Contribute to the Pathogenesis of Rheumatoid Arthritis [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016; 68 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/transient-circulatory-existence-of-multipotential-stromal-cells-is-unlikely-to-contribute-to-the-pathogenesis-of-rheumatoid-arthritis/. Accessed October 26, 2021.

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