gms | German Medical Science

Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2019)

22. - 25.10.2019, Berlin

The pro-inflammatory role of calcitonin gene-related peptide in rheumatoid arthritis: first results

Meeting Abstract

  • presenting/speaker Tazio Maleitzke - Centrum für Muskuloskeletale Chirurgie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Alexander Hildebrandt - Centrum für Muskuloskeletale Chirurgie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Jérôme Weber - Centrum für Muskuloskeletale Chirurgie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Arne Kienzle - Centrum für Muskuloskeletale Chirurgie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Carsten Perka - Centrum für Muskuloskeletale Chirurgie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Georg N. Duda - Julius Wolff Institut, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Serafeim Tsitsilonis - Centrum für Muskuloskeletale Chirurgie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Johannes Keller - Centrum für Muskuloskeletale Chirurgie, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2019). Berlin, 22.-25.10.2019. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2019. DocAB57-922

doi: 10.3205/19dkou540, urn:nbn:de:0183-19dkou5408

Veröffentlicht: 22. Oktober 2019

© 2019 Maleitzke et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open-Access-Artikel und steht unter den Lizenzbedingungen der Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (Namensnennung). Lizenz-Angaben siehe http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Gliederung

Text

Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic inflammatory joint disease worldwide, affecting about 1% of today's population. Cartilage degradation and bone erosions lead to joint deformities and chronic joint pain. Around 25% of RA patients require a total joint arthroplasty (TJA) during their life. Compromised bone quality and an increased risk of periprosthetic fractures and infections underline the present surgical challenges when performing TJA on RA patients.

Bone erosions in RA mainly result from an imbalance of bone formation and bone resorption in favour of the latter. In order to notably improve bone quality in RA patients for successful TJA surgery, we are investigating the role of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a neuropeptide of the Calcitonin family. CGRP is known as a potent vasodilator with a crucial role in nociceptive transmission and we were previously able to show that CGRP also supports bone formation. Here we show for the first time the impact of endogenous CGRP signalling in an in vivo mouse model of RA.

Methods: The phenotypical effects of collagen antibody-induced arthritis on CGRP-deficient mice (n = 12) and their wild type littermates (n = 13) were investigated over a time course of ten days. Arthritis progression was evaluated daily through clinical assessment and ankle size measurements. Samples were harvested on day ten and stored for further histological and radiological analysis.

Results and conclusion: Acute arthritis developed in all mice with a peak between day seven and nine, followed by a subsequent decline of inflammation. CGRP-deficient mice showed significantly less arthritis manifestation, indicated by a lower semiquantitative arthritis score with less pronounced swelling and redness for all four paws during the acute phase of arthritis. Further, ankle size was also significantly lower in CGRP-deficient mice, compared to their wild type littermates during the acute phase of arthritis.

With this in-vivo study, we demonstrate for the first time the pro-inflammatory effect of CGRP on the clinical manifestation of RA. These striking results point towards a crucial involvement of CGRP in the pathomechanism of RA. Further scientific engagement, including histological and radiological analysis, will allow to study the role of CGRP and its involvement in bone formation and resorption during RA in more detail. We aim at using this valuable knowledge to increase bone quality in RA patients for future successful TJA surgery.