Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) make up a group of chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). The course of these diseases involves chronic inflammation of joints and enthesopathies, which can result in joint damage and disability. Microparticles (MPs) are a group of small spherical membranous vesicles. The structure and cellular origin of MPs, mechanisms that stimulate their secretion and the place of their production, determine their biological properties, which could become manifest in the pathogenesis of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Microparticles can stimulate synovitis with proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. MPs may also contribute to the pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases by the formation of immune complexes and complement activation, pro-coagulation activity, activation of vascular endothelium cells, and stimulation of metalloproteinase production. It seems that in the future, microparticles can become a modern marker of disease activity, a response to treatment, and, possibly, they can be used in the prognosis of the course of arthritis. The knowledge of the complexity of MPs biology remains incomplete and it requires further comprehensive studies to explain how they affect the development of rheumatic diseases. This review focuses on the immunopathogenic and therapeutic role of MPs in chronic immune-mediated inflammatory joint diseases.
Highlights
Cell membrane microparticles (MPs), or microvesicles, are fragments of surface membranes of activated eukaryotic cells
In a study with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients, Bradley did not observe any differences in the number of MPs between them and the control group; in contrast, significantly higher expression of CD4, CD62, CD14, VCam1 and lower expression of CD41 and CD54 was observed in the MPs surface in the patients compared with healthy individuals as well as significantly more frequent positive immunofluorescence of AV-labeled MPs in the patients [57], which implies a relationship between different cellular origin and a mechanism leading to MPs formation and AS development
Microparticles have special biological properties which allow them to play a role in pathogenesis of chronic inflammation
Summary
Cell membrane microparticles (MPs), or microvesicles, are fragments of surface membranes of activated eukaryotic cells Their size, which determines their diameter as lying within the interval of 0.1 to 1 μm, is their main defining criterion. Increased secretion of microparticles from activated platelets, leukocytes, erythrocytes, smooth muscle cells, and vascular endothelium cells takes place in immune-mediated diseases. Contact of platelet-derived microparticles with target cells can result in monocyte chemotaxis, stimulation of cytokine secretion, activation of endothelial cells, and increased tissue factor expression on endothelial cell surface [16]. The use of antibodies against different membranous antigens enables identification of the cellular origin of microparticles Another method of microparticle determination is based on ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), which makes use of test plates coated with annexin V or antibodies specific to cell membrane antigens [38]. When total phosphorus or phospholipid activity is determined, ELISA enables quantitative determination of microparticles [39]
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