Newsletter # 10

Animal models

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a widespread (prevalence 0.5–1%), chronic inflammatory disease and has several pathological features of autoimmune disease. The disease is characterized by cellular infiltration in synovial tissue, pannus formation, and both cartilage and bone erosion. RA leads to the destruction of cartilage and bone.Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) is an experimental model sharing several clinical and pathological features with RA.
CIA has been used to study the pathogenesis of RA. This model is widely used to address questions of disease pathogenesis and to validate therapeutic targets. The chief pathological features of CIA include a proliferative synovitis with infiltration of polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells, pannus formation, cartilage degradation, erosion of bone, and fibrosis. As in RA, TNFalpha and interleukin IL-1beta are expressed in the arthritic joints, and blockade of these molecules results in a reduction of disease severity.