Uridine diphosphoglucose dehydrogenase (UDPGD) is the enzyme responsible for the production of uridine diphospho(UDP)-glucuronate, an essential monosaccharide in the biosynthesis of hyaluronan, which is found in high concentrations in normal synovial fluid. Synovial lining cells have been implicated in the synthesis of hyaluronan, but the degree to which they are adapted metabolically to this f...

BACKGROUND Monocytes are dominant cells present within the inflamed synovium during osteoarthritis (OA). In mice, two functionally distinct monocyte subsets are described: pro-inflammatory Ly6Chigh and patrolling Ly6Clow monocytes. Alarmins S100A8/A9 locally released by the synovium during inflammatory OA for prolonged periods may be dominant proteins involved in stimulating recruitment of Ly6C...

Hyaluronan is a major molecule in joint fluid and plays a crucial role in joint motion and the maintenance of joint homeostasis. The concentration and average molecular weight of hyaluronan in the joint fluids are reduced in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. To elucidate the underlying mechanism, we analyzed the message expression of three isoforms of hyaluronan synthase and hyaluronidas...

INTRODUCTION A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) from the TNF family, owing to its role in the generation and survival of plasma cells (PCs), is currently targeted for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment. However, little is known about APRIL expression in RA lesions, hampering our understanding of the way APRIL may modulate this autoimmune disease. METHODS We performed immunological stain...

Angiogenesis is a critical factor for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although anti-TNF biologics work effectively on some RA patients, concerns have been raised about the possible increased development of malignancies alongside such treatments. Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) has attracted worldwide attention and has been reported to treat some cancers. However, the effects of As2O3 on angiogenesis in the...

introcduction: pigmented villonodular synovitis (pvs) is rare, benign and proliferative disorder of synovium which consists of villous and/ or nodular formations in joints.diagnosis is determined by clinical features, aspiration of the joint, radiographic features and magnetic resonance imaging (mri).the definitive treatment is the complete resection of affected tissue by open or arthroscopic s...

BACKGROUND We have recently reported that interpositional synovium grafts from tendon sheath have a potential to accelerate tendon healing when implanted at the repair site. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of orientation of the synovium after synovium graft transplantation, by comparing the ability of cells from the visceral and parietal surfaces to migrate into the tend...

BACKGROUND Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovium is characterised by enhanced NF-kappaB activity and proinflammatory cytokines. Cryopyrin (CIAS-1, NALP-3, PYPAF-1) has been shown to regulate NF-kappaB and caspase-1 activation. OBJECTIVE To study the expression of cryopyrin, its effector molecule ASC, and its putative antagonist pyrin in RA and osteoarthritis (OA) synovium, and the main two cellu...

Plasma cell infiltration of synovium is common in longstanding rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The mechanism(s) underlying synovial B cell proliferation remains unclear. One theory invokes nonspecific polyclonal stimuli; another implicates antigen as the driving force. Antigen-driven repertoires are characteristically enriched for related sets of V gene segments containing similar sequence in the an...