ArticleArthritis research & therapy2016
Inhomogeneity of immune cell composition in the synovial sublining: linear mixed modelling indicates differences in distribution and spatial decline of CD68+ macrophages in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Biomimetic cellular sponges for neutralizing inflammatory cytokines in osteoarthritic joints.Materials today. Bio · 2026Article
- Research progress on the role of CD14 in osteoarthritis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Synovial macrophages drive severe joint destruction in established rheumatoid arthritis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Research progress of the application of mesenchymal stem cells in chronic inflammatory systemic diseases.Stem cell research & therapy · 2022Review
- Infrapatellar Fat Pad-Synovial Membrane Anatomo-Fuctional Unit: Microscopic Basis for Piezo1/2 Mechanosensors Involvement in Osteoarthritis Pain.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Article
- Targeted apoptosis of macrophages and osteoclasts in arthritic joints is effective against advanced inflammatory arthritis.Nature communications · 2021Article
- Increase in CD5L expression in the synovial membrane of knee osteoarthritis patients with obesity.Central-European journal of immunology · 2021Article
- Article
- The Maintenance of Memory Plasma Cells.Frontiers in immunology · 2019Review
- Synovial Tissue Heterogeneity in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Changes With Biologic and Targeted Synthetic Therapies to Inform Stratified Therapy.Frontiers in medicine · 2019Review
- Co-culture with synovial tissue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis suppress cell proliferation by regulating MAPK pathway in osteoblasts.American journal of translational research · 2019Article
- miR-26a-5p Regulates Synovial Fibroblast Invasion in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis by Targeting Smad 1.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2018Article
- Pharmacologic targeting ERK1/2 attenuates the development and progression of hyperuricemic nephropathy in rats.Oncotarget · 2017Article
- Increase and regulation of synovial calcitonin gene-related peptide expression in patients with painful knee osteoarthritis.Journal of pain research · 2017Article
- Nerve Growth Factor Regulation by TNF-α and IL-1β in Synovial Macrophages and Fibroblasts in Osteoarthritic Mice.Journal of immunology research · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInhomogeneity of immune cell distribution in the synovial sublining layer was analyzed in order to improve our mechanistic understanding of synovial inflammation and explore potential refinements for histological biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA).
methodsSynovial tissue of 20 patients (11 RA, 9 OA) was immunohistochemically stained for macrophages (CD68), synovial fibroblasts (CD55), T cells (CD3), plasma cells (CD38), endothelial cells (vWF) and mast cells (MCT). The synovial sublining layer was divided into predefined adjacent zones and fractions of the stained area (SA) were determined by digital image analysis for each cell marker.
resultsDistribution of CD68, CD55, CD38 and MCT staining of the sublining area was heterogeneous (Friedman ANOVA p < 0.05). The highest expression for all markers was observed in the upper layer close to the lining layer with a decrease in the middle and lower sublining. The SA of CD68, CD55 and CD38 was significantly higher in all layers of RA tissue compared to OA (p < 0.05), except the CD38 fraction of the lower sublining. Based on receiver operating characteristics analysis, CD68 SA of the total sublining resulted in the highest area under the curve (AUC 0.944, CI 95 % 0.844-1.0, p = 0.001) followed by CD68 in the upper and middle layer respectively (both AUC 0.933, CI 95 % 0.816-1.0, p = 0.001) in both RA and OA. Linear mixed modelling confirmed significant differences in the SA of sublining CD68 between OA and RA (p = 0.0042) with a higher concentration of CD68+ towards the lining layer and more rapid decline towards the periphery of the sublining in RA compared to OA (p = 0.0022).
conclusionsImmune cells are inhomogeneously distributed within the sublining layer. RA and OA tissue display differences in the number of CD68 macrophages and differences in CD68 decline within the synovial sublining.
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