In a recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, researchers found that antibodies existing in the joints before the onset of rheumatoid arthritis can cause pain.
They believe the finding could help develop new ways of reducing pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
The research is from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. One author is Camilla Svensson.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that happens when immune cells attack the cartilage and bone of the joints.
A common early symptom is joint pain, but even before that, the body has started to produce immune antibodies against proteins in the joint.
In that case, pain can appear before any sign of inflammation in the joints and can remain a problem after it has healed.
In the study, the team found that the antibodies that had been designed not to activate immune cells and trigger inflammation could also induce pain-like behavior.
Mice became more sensitive to pain even before there were any signs of inflammation in the joints.
The team found that the antibodies that caused the behavioral change form so-called immune complexes, which comprised clusters of antibodies and cartilage proteins in the joints. These complexes activate pain cells.
They explain that antibodies in these immune complexes can activate the pain neurons directly. The antibodies also can affect the pain neurons in conditions without any distinct tissue damage or inflammation.
The team believes that human pain neurons also have antibody receptors that are functionally similar to those they found on the mouse pain neurons. This means their new findings are also relevant to humans.
The results can explain the early pain symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis patients. In addition, joint and muscle pain are also common symptoms of other autoimmune diseases.
If you care about arthritis, please read studies about common arthritis treatment may damage your joints and findings of this common arthritis drug may increase skin cancer risk.
For more information about arthritis prevention and treatment, please see recent studies about this nutrient may protect heart health in people with arthritis and results showing that this drug for asthma, allergies and arthritis may increase COVID-19 risk.
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