Rheumatology 2000; 39: 274-282
© 2000 British Society for Rheumatology
What determines arthritogenicity of bacterial cell wall? A study on Eubacterium cell wall-induced arthritis
imelyteTurku Immunology Centre, Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, Turku, Finland
Objective. To study what determines the arthritogenicity of the bacterial cell wall (CW) using Eubacterium CW-induced arthritis in the rat.
Methods. Eubacterium aerofaciens, previously reported as arthritogenic, and E. limosum and E. alactolyticum, known as non-arthritogenic, were used. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was applied to analyse the chemical composition of the bacterial cell wall. Cellular immune response was measured by concanavalin A (Con A) stimulation and FACScan analysis. Also, serum antibodies against the injected cell wall were determined.
Results. Unexpectedly, from the two strains of E. aerofaciens used only one proved to be arthritogenic (with a CW inducing chronic arthritis after a single intraperitoneal injection), even though these two strains were 100% identical by 16S rDNA analysis. CW of the other E. aerofaciens strain induced only transient acute arthritis; CW of E. limosum and E. alactolyticum induced weak signs of acute arthritis. Based on the GC–MS analysis and on the results published previously, putative structures of peptidoglycan (PG) in the four CW preparations are presented. It is apparent that the presence of lysine in position 3 of the PG stem peptide contributes to arthritogenicity but is alone not decisive. Both strains of E. aerofaciens were immunosuppressive, when tested by Con A response at 2 weeks after CW injection. Such an immunosuppression was not observed after injection of CW from E. limosum or E. alactolyticum. FACScan analysis for six T cell markers and studies on serum antibody responses did not reveal any differences in the effect of the four bacterial strains used.
Conclusions. The results obtained suggest that the chemical structure of PG present in the bacterial CW is decisive in determining arthritogenicity/non-arthritogenicity. Therefore, from two bacterial strains belonging to normal human intestinal flora and 100% identical by 16S rDNA analysis, one proved to be arthritogenic and the other non-arthritogenic.
KEY WORDS: Intestinal flora, Peptidoglycan, Gas chromatography, Mass spectrometry, Lysine.
Correspondence to: X. Zhang, Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, Kiinamyllynkatu 13, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. Moen, J. G. Brun, T. M. Madland, T. Tynning, and R. Jonsson Immunoglobulin G and A Antibody Responses to Bacteroides forsythus and Prevotella intermedia in Sera and Synovial Fluids of Arthritis Patients Clin. Vaccine Immunol., November 1, 2003; 10(6): 1043 - 1050. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E Simelyte, M Rimpilainen, X Zhang, and P Toivanen Role of peptidoglycan subtypes in the pathogenesis of bacterial cell wall arthritis Ann Rheum Dis, October 1, 2003; 62(10): 976 - 982. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J Sibilia and F-X Limbach Reactive arthritis or chronic infectious arthritis? Ann Rheum Dis, July 1, 2002; 61(7): 580 - 587. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 X. Zhang, M. Rimpilainen, and P. Toivanen Enzyme Degradation and Proinflammatory Activity in Arthritogenic and Nonarthritogenic Eubacterium aerofaciens Cell Walls Infect. Immun., December 1, 2001; 69(12): 7277 - 7284. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Toivanen, J. Vaahtovuo, and E. Eerola Influence of Major Histocompatibility Complex on Bacterial Composition of Fecal Flora Infect. Immun., April 1, 2001; 69(4): 2372 - 2377. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
X Zhang, M Rimpilainen, and P Toivanen Characterisation of Eubacterium cell wall: peptidoglycan structure determines arthritogenicity Ann Rheum Dis, March 1, 2001; 60(3): 269 - 274. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. Simelyte, M. Rimpilainen, L. Lehtonen, X. Zhang, and P. Toivanen Bacterial Cell Wall-Induced Arthritis: Chemical Composition and Tissue Distribution of Four Lactobacillus Strains Infect. Immun., June 1, 2000; 68(6): 3535 - 3540. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|