CHICKEN TYPE II COLLAGEN-INDUCED ARTHRITIS IN MICE. EXPERIMENTAL MODEL FOR AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE STUDY

JONATHAN LAIÑO; PRISCILA ZELAYA; ANALÍA PEYROT; LOURDES LUCERO; FLORENCIA FAGALDE; MARÍA HORTENSIA ZELAYA

San Luis

Congreso; LXXI REUNIÓN CIENTÍFICA ANUAL DE LA SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE INMUNOLOGÍA (SAI); 2023

SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA DE INMUNOLOGÍA (SAI)

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a progressive and chronic process characterized by systemic and local inflammation that generates damage, articular destruction, and pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate and characterize the arthritic process induced by purified chicken type II collagen (CII) in mice. Methods: different conditions of CII isolation and purification protocols were optimized. Once CII was purified and well-characterized, it was used to induce the arthritic process in adult C57BL/6 mice (12 week-old). Mice received an intradermal injection in the tails of an emulsion of complete Freund adjuvant (CFA) and purified CII (CFA+CII) to develop a collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). Control mice (C) were injected with saline solution. The establishment and progression of arthritis were evaluated for 45 days after injection. Body weight and swelling measurement (paws and ankles) were studied as clinical parameters. At 31 and 45 days post-injection (dpi), samples were withdrawn to evaluate total and differential leukocyte counts, neutrophil myeloperoxidase activity, platelet counts, IgG and subtypes (IgG1 and IgG2a) in peripheral blood, and histological slides analysis from paws. Results: chicken CII was successfully purified and characterized by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide (SDS-PAGE) gel electrophoresis, ultraviolet absorption, Fourier Transformed-InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and circular dichroism. In mice, CII+CFA induced significant swelling in paws (31 dpi, right paw, C=2.18 mm, CIA=2.98, p=0.0014) and ankles (31 dpi, right ankle, C=2.89 mm, CIA=4.27, p