Connective Tissue Activation. II. Abnormalities of Cultured Rheumatoid Synovial Cells

Abstract

Abstract Rheumatoid synovial cells grown in vitro demonstrated: a) increased rate of lactate formation, b) increased rate of glucose uptake, c) increased rate of hyaluronate synthesis, d) decreased sensitivity to exogenous activator and e) increased concentrations of an endogenous activator. Exogenous activator was shown to be capable of inducing cortisol unresponsiveness in relation to suppression of hyaluronate synthesis. Evidence that exogenous activator is not long retained by synovial cells suggests that elevated levels in rheumatoid cells are due to accentuated endogenous formation. Elevated activator peptide content of rheumatoid synovial cells provides an explanation for many of the differences between normal and rheumatoid synovial cells in vitro.