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 a 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 aimed to find out how these autoantibodies can generate pain.
They found that the antibodies that had been designed not to activate immune cells and trigger inflammation could also induce pain-like behavior in mice.
The 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.
The researchers 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 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.
The researchers believe that the new finding can explain non-inflammatory pain caused by other autoimmune diseases too.
They hope to lay the groundwork for a new way of reducing pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases
If you care about pain management, please read studies about this common arthritis drug may increase skin cancer risk and findings of common arthritis treatment may damage your joints.
For more information about arthritis and your health, please see recent studies about a new way to treat arthritis and other inflammatory diseases and results showing that common drug for arthritis may harm your heart health.
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