Arthritis by autoreactive T cell lines obtained from rats after injection of intestinal bacterial cell wall fragments

T cell lines (B13, B19) were isolated from the lymph nodes of Lewis rats 12 days after an arthritogenic injection of cell wall fragments of Eubacterium aerofaciens (ECW), a major resident of the human intestinal flora. These cell wall fragments consist of peptidoglycan polysaccharide complexes (PPC). The cell lines that bear the helper phenotype were arthritogenic in knee or ankle joints upon intravenous injection into irradiated Lewis recipients. B13 was, however, not arthritogenic in irradiated F344 recipients that are largely RT1 identical. The arthritis induced in the knee joints of the irradiated Lewis rats was clearly shown by a 99mtechnetium-pertechnetate scanning technique and was confirmed histologically. In vitro the cell lines showed a proliferative response after stimulation with syngeneic spleen cells alone. The proliferation was significantly higher when bacterial PPC, isolated in soluble form from normal feces or ileostomy fluid were added. Recognition by B13 appeared to be MHC class II restricted. These results show that autoreactive T cell lines can be isolated from rats after injection of bacterial cell wall antigens and that these cell lines can be arthritogenic. This suggests a role for autoreactive T cells in the induction of bacterial cell wall arthritis and might give a clue for the arthritogenic properties of the normal human intestinal flora.