Regulation of natural killer cell activity by macrophages in the rheumatoid joint and peripheral blood

Recently, in another study, we observed that indomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, significantly increased NK activity in both normal and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) peripheral blood (PB) but not in RA synovial fluid (SF). Because macrophages are a major source of prostaglandins, we examined the effect of macrophage-enriched adherent cells (AC) on NK activity as measured by a 3-hr Cr-release assay with K 562 cells. The removal of AC resulted in increased (p less than 0.01) NK activity in both normal and RA PB. In contrast, the removal of AC from RA SF resulted in a significant decrease (p less than 0.001) of NK activity. By using only nonadherent cells (NAC), NK activity in RA SF and synovial tissue (ST) was significantly reduced when compared to autologous RA PB (p less than 0.001). Enhancement of NK activity of SF NAC by both poly I:C and IL 2 was not dependent on AC. Mixing experiments demonstrated that the addition of synovial AC for 16 hr increased NK activity of synovial NAC to a level similar to that of unseparated mononuclear cells, whereas autologous PB AC suppressed NK activity of PB NAC. PB AC, when added to SF NAC, also increased NK activity. Supernatants from synovial mononuclear cells were stimulatory of synovial NAC NK activity, whereas normal PB mononuclear supernatants were suppressive. These observations document 1) a significant reduction of NAC-mediated NK activity in the rheumatoid joint as compared to PB from the same patient, and 2) that AC modulate NK activity differently in the rheumatoid joint as compared to RA or normal PB.