Comparative analysis of late-stage rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis reveals shared histopathological features

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating and heterogeneous condition, characterized by various levels of articular cartilage degradation, osteophytes formation, and synovial inflammation. Multiple evidences suggest that synovitis may appear early in the disease development and correlates with disease severity and pain, therefore representing a relevant therapeutic target. In a typical synovitis-driven joint disease, namely rheumatoid arthritis (RA), several pathotypes have been described by our group and associated with clinical phenotypes, disease progression, and response to therapy. However, whether these pathotypes can be also observed in the OA synovium is currently unknown.

Here, using histological approaches combined with semi-quantitative scoring and quantitative digital image analyses, we comparatively characterize the immune cell infiltration in a large cohort of OA and RA synovial tissue samples collected at the time of total joint replacement.

We demonstrate that OA synovium can be categorized also into three pathotypes and characterized by disease- and stage-specific features. Moreover, we revealed that pathotypes specifically reflect distinct levels of peripheral inflammation.

In this study, we provide a novel and relevant pathological classification of OA synovial inflammation. Further studies investigating synovial molecular pathology in OA may contribute to the development of disease-modifying therapies.