Dexamethasone modulated protein synthesis in polymorphonuclear leukocytes: response in rheumatoid arthritis

Nine polypeptides whose rate of synthesis is modulated in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) by dexamethasone were studied by 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In each case, there was a time lag between addition of dexamethasone and the appearance of any change in rate of synthesis. In PMNL from a group of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, dexamethasone modulated the synthesis of the same polypeptides as in PMNL from a group of healthy volunteers, but the degree of response of their polypeptides to dexamethasone was significantly reduced as measured by assaying the level of synthesis of a polypeptide of molecular weight 16,000. Reduced responses of PMNL polypeptide synthesis to glucocorticoid may allow the development of rheumatoid inflammation despite apparently adequate levels of endogenous corticosteroids.