Wooley, P H

Abstract Type II collagen from six mammalian species was investigated for the capacity to induce an immune response and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in C57/B10 congenic mouse strains. H-2q haplotype mice were susceptible to chick, bovine, deer, rat, and human type II collagen, but were resistant to arthritis induced by porcine type II collagen. H-2r haplotype mice only developed CIA in response to bovine, deer, and porcine collagen. High antibody responses in the absence of disease, directed against a specific type II collagen, were observed in many independent haplotypes. The cross-reactive capacity of different antisera to the various collagen species was studied. The data support the existence of two arthritogenic and multiple nonarthritogenic epitopes on the type II collagen molecule.

Abstract Pretreatment of mice genetically susceptible to type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) with monoclonal or polyclonal antisera specific for I region gene products (Ia antigens) suppressed or delayed the onset of CIA, whereas pretreatment with anti-Ia to an irrelevant haplotype was without effect. The humoral response to type II collagen was transiently depressed 14 days after immunization but antibody levels did not differ significantly after 28 days. The peak delayed-type hypersensitivity to type II collagen was unaffected by anti-Ia treatment. Monoclonal antibody of one anti-Ia specificity enhanced both the antibody response and the arthritis incidence in one mouse strain.