High level of interleukin‐10 production by the activated t cell population within the rheumatoid synovial membrane

Abstract

The cytokine profile of the T cell clones that were obtained from the RA joint after expansion with IL-2 is distinct from that of the T cells that are predominant in PBM. This supports the concept that the T cells subsets that accumulate in the joint are not a random sample. The high level of IL-10 production by clones derived from the synovium suggests that this cytokine may be a major contributor to the endogenous immunosuppression that occurs in RA.