Heterogeneity of T cell receptor idiotypes in rheumatoid arthritis.

The nature of the T cell response in the rheumatoid synovium was investigated by using monoclonals MX9 and 42/lCl, which recognize the Vβ8 and Vβ5 T cell receptor gene families respectively. The blood and synovial T cells of ten patients with rheumatoid arthritis were compared. The majority (8/10) had different numbers of Vβ5 and Vβ8 cells in the joints from those in the blood, indicating that the T cells in the joints were not a sample of those in the blood. In three patients both Vβ5 and Vβ8 cells in the joint were augmented in number, suggesting that the T cells selectively retained in the joint were not members of a single clone, but derived from many clones. Some patients had increased levels of Vβ5 or Vβ8 alone in the joint indicating that heterogeneity existed between patients. These results are not consistent with the preferential or dominant use of a single Vβ gene family in the T cells involved in the rheumatoid arthritic joints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]