Treatment of the SpA-like disease in HLA B27 transgenic animals

M. Breban¹, E. May²

¹INSERM U567 and Service de Rhumatologie B, Hôpital Cochin, Université René Descartes, Paris, France; ²Dept. Biologie II, Institut für Anthropologie und Humangenetik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MŸnchen, Munich, Germany.

ABSTRACT
A major involvement of the immune system and of microbial flora in the HLA-B27 transgenic rat model of spondylarthropathy was demonstrated. The role of inflammatory pathways, such as cytokines and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was investigated. Treatment with IL-10 failed to improve established disease, whereas such improvement was achieved with IL-11. In contrast, aggravation was observed after treatment with selective inhibitor of iNOS.

Key words
HLA-B27, animal models, spondylarthropathy, cytokines, nitroic oxide synthase.

Please address correspondance to: Maxime Breban, MD, PhD, INSERM U567 and Service de Rhumatologie B, Hôpital Cochin, 27 rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques, 75014 Paris, France. E-mail: maxime.breban@cch.ap-hop-paris.fr

Clin Exp Rheumatol 2002; 20: (Suppl. 28): S50-S51.
© Copyright Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2002.