SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

Arthritis on the Move

from ScienceNOW Daily News

The same cells that ravage the cartilage of rheumatoid arthritis patients also carry the disease from joint to joint, a new study suggests. The work points to several possibilities for halting the spread of this crippling condition.

Rheumatoid arthritis typically appears in a single joint at first, but it often spreads throughout much of the body within a few years. The autoimmune disease destroys cartilage padding between bones and causes inflammation in joints, resulting in intense pain and lack of mobility. It differs from osteoarthritis, which is the normal, long-term wearing away of the padding in isolated joints.

Scientists had known that certain types of fibroblasts--cells that help bind wounds and build the connective tissue that supports other cells--are responsible for damaging cartilage, says Elena Neumann, a molecular biologist at Justus-Liebig University in Bad Nauheim, Germany. These rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs) appear in the fluid within joints and secrete enzymes that decompose cartilage.