TNF-α inhibitors decrease classical CD14hiCD16− monocyte subsets in highly active, conventional treatment refractory rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis

Batko, B., Schramm-Luc, A., Skiba, D. S., Mikolajczyk, T. P. and Siedlinski, M. (2019) TNF-α inhibitors decrease classical CD14hiCD16− monocyte subsets in highly active, conventional treatment refractory rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(2), 291. (doi: 10.3390/ijms20020291) (PMID:30642076) (PMCID:PMC6358965)

Abstract

Monocytes are pivotal cells in inflammatory joint diseases. We aimed to determine the effect of TNF-α inhibitors (TNFi) on peripheral blood monocyte subpopulations and their activation in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with high disease activity. To address this, we studied 50 (32 AS, 18 RA) patients with highly active disease with no prior history of TNFi use who were recruited and assigned to TNFi or placebo treatment for 12 weeks. Cytometric and clinical assessment was determined at baseline, four, and 12 weeks after initiation of TNFi treatment. We observed that treatment with TNFi led to a significant decrease in CD14hiCD16− monocytes in comparison to placebo, while circulating CD14dimCD16+ monocytes significantly increased. The TNFi-induced monocyte subset shifts were similar in RA and AS patients. While the percentage of CD14dimCD16+ monocytes increased, expression of CD11b and CD11c integrins on their surface was significantly reduced by TNFi. Additionally, CD45RA+ cells were more frequent. The shift towards nonclassical CD14dimCD16+ monocytes in peripheral blood due to TNFi treatment was seen in both AS and RA. This may reflect reduced recruitment of these cells to sites of inflammation due to lower inflammatory burden, which is associated with decreased disease activity.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Ankylosing spondylitis, disease activity, monocytes, rheumatoid arthritis, tumor necrosis factor inhibitor.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mikolajczyk, Dr Tomasz and Skiba, Mr Dominik and Siedlinski, Mr Mateusz
• Authors: Batko, B., Schramm-Luc, A., Skiba, D. S., Mikolajczyk, T. P., and Siedlinski, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
• Journal Name: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1661-6596
• ISSN (Online): 1422-0067
• Published Online: 12 January 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Authors
• First Published: First published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20(2): 291
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License