Abstract
BackgroundRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by chronic poly-arthritis, synovial hyperplasia, erosive synovitis, progressive cartilage and bone destruction accompanied by a loss of body cell mass. This loss of cell mass, known as rheumatoid cachexia, predominates in the skeletal muscle and can in part be explained by a decreased physical activity. The murine collagen induced arthritis (CIA) model has been proven to be a useful model in RA research since it shares many immunological and pathological features with human RA. The present study explored the interactions between arthritis development, locomotion and muscle mass in the CIA model.MethodsCIA was induced in male DBA/1 mice. Locomotion was registered at different time points by a camera and evaluated by a computerized tracing system. Arthritis severity was detected by the traditionally used semi-quantitative clinical scores. The muscle mass of the hind-legs was detected at the end of the study by weighing. A methotrexate (MTX) intervention group was included to study the applicability of the locomotion and muscle mass for testing effectiveness of interventions in more detail.ResultsThere is a strong correlation between clinical arthritis and locomotion. The correlations between muscle mass and locomotion or clinical arthritis were less pronounced. MTX intervention resulted in an improvement of disease severity accompanied by an increase in locomotion and muscle mass.ConclusionThe present data demonstrate that registration of locomotion followed by a computerized evaluation of the movements is a simple non invasive quantitative method to define disease severity and evaluate effectiveness of therapeutic agents in the CIA model.
Highlights
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by chronic poly-arthritis, synovial hyperplasia, erosive synovitis, progressive cartilage and bone destruction accompanied by a loss of body cell mass
The disease is characterized by a chronic poly-arthritis, synovial hyperplasia and erosive synovitis, progressive cartilage and bone destruction and an accelerated loss of muscle mass, known as rheumatoid cachexia [1]
All results and conclusions are based on the data from animals with a maximum arthritis score of 12
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by chronic poly-arthritis, synovial hyperplasia, erosive synovitis, progressive cartilage and bone destruction accompanied by a loss of body cell mass. This loss of cell mass, known as rheumatoid cachexia, predominates in the skeletal muscle and can in part be explained by a decreased physical activity. The disease is characterized by a chronic poly-arthritis, synovial hyperplasia and erosive synovitis, progressive cartilage and bone destruction and an accelerated loss of muscle mass, known as rheumatoid cachexia [1]. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2009, 10:59 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/10/59 decreased physical activity [3] This decrease in physical activity in RA patients is closely related to pain, characterized by hyperalgesia and spontaneous pain, mostly caused and exacerbated by inflammatory mediators (cytokines, prostaglandins) [4]. Other factors contributing to muscle protein wasting are increased levels of systemic and local markers of inflammation (e.g. TNF-α, IL1β and IL-6) as well as increased levels of oxidative stress [5]
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