Homing chemokines in rheumatoid arthritis
Theodor-Kocher Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland
Arthritis Res 2002, 4:233-236 doi:10.1186/ar412
Published: 31 January 2002Abstract
In about 20% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, B and T lymphocytes recruited into the inflamed synovium are organized into complex microstructures, which resemble secondary lymphoid organs. The development of such lymphoid aggregates with germinal centers appears to contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease. Growing evidence indicates that chemokines and their receptors control the recruitment and positioning of leukocytes as well as their organization into node-like lymphoid structures. Here, we comment on recent studies highlighting the importance of chemokines in rheumatoid arthritis, in particular of B-cell-activating chemokine-1 in lymphoid neogenesis in the inflamed synovium.
