Mononuclear leucocyte chemotaxis in Boyden chambers: inhibition by subantimitotic concentrations of antitubulins

Joint fluid leukocytosis of patient with rheumatoid arthritis Computer analysis of possible explanative factors

The relationship between joint fluid leukocytosis and some clinical and laboratory parameters (disease duration, ESR, maximal titres of rheumatoid factor and of antinuclear factors, blood leukocytosis and sex) was studied in 27 consecutive patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. The concentration of leukocytes was significantly higher in the synovial fluid than in peripheral blood. Variations of joint fluid leukocytosis could, however, not be explained by disease duration, actual ESR, maximal rheumatoid factor or antinuclear factor titres, concentration of blood leukocytes, or sex. It is suggested that a possible correlation between joint fluid leukocytosis and the listed parameters of rheumatoid arthritis may be too complex for analysis by a linear multiple regression model in samples of the present size.

The role of the MA-sensitive leukocyte chemotaxis in rheumatoid arthritis. A randomized double-blind clinical trial of griseofulvin treatment

Polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) chemotaxis is thought to play an essential role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. PMN chemotaxis is in part sensitive to microtubule antagonists (MAs), e.g. colchicine. The antimycotic antibiotic griseofulvin inhibits the MA-sensitive PMN chemotaxis in vitro in concentrations far below those obtained in serum during antimycotic therapy. The role of the MA-sensitive chemotaxis in rheumatoid arthritis could thus be elucidated by a clinical trial of griseofulvin treatment. Griseofulvin (n = 20) was tested in a randomized double-blind study versus placebo (m = 19) during one year in patients with rheumatoid arthritis of mild-moderate activity. No beneficial effect of griseofulvin treatment was noted on clinical symptoms or laboratory parameters of rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, the placebo-treated patients showed more improvement than the griseofulvin-treated patients. It is therefore suggested that the MA-sensitive chemotaxis plays a reparative role in the inflammatory lesions of rheumatoid arthritis.

The phagocytosis-associated chemotaxis of human mononuclear leucocytes from peripheral blood is not antitubulin-sensitive

Lymphoprep-isolated and glass-adherent mononuclear leucocytes (L-MNs) from the peripheral blood of healthy donors appeared to display directional locomotion towards sparsely distributed yeast cells during continuous observation in coverslip preparations and during observations by means of time-lapse filming in Rose chambers. The phagocytosis-associated L-MN chemotaxis was not inhibited by antitubulin concentrations which were antichemotactic thesis that a direct antitubulin-insensitive chemotaxis exists in L-MNs, besides the antitubulin-inhibited L-MN chemoataxis reported in a previous study.