2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Effect of intra-articular injection of MCP-1 on arthritis

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24790995
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	膠原病・アレルギー・感染症内科学
Research Institution	Kanazawa University
Principal Investigator	FUJII Hiroshi 金沢大学, 大学病院, 助教 (20596895)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	リウマチ学
Research Abstract	Previously, we reported that ablation of an inflammatory chemokine receptor, CCR2, led to aggravation of the arthritis of IL-1ra-/- mouse. We assume that MCP-1, the ligand of CCR2, may resolve the arthritis in IL-1ra-/- and injected repeatedly 100pg of MCP-1 into the joint of IL-1ra-/- mouse. Unexpectedly, more severe arthritis was observed after injection of MCP-1, accompanying severe accumulation of neutrophils and macrophages into the joint. Multiplex analysis of cytokine levels in the joint of mature IL-1ra-/-CCR2-/-mouse (20-week-old) revealed decreased levels of regulatory cytokines, such as IL-4 and IL-10, indicating regulatory roles of macrophages during late stage of arthritis. Collectively, CCR2+ macrophages may serve as pro-inflammatory during early stage and later, as anti-inflammatory during late stage of arthritis.