Increased expression of the blood group-related Lewis Y antigen on synovial fluid granulocytes of patients with arthritic joint diseases.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the expression of the carbohydrate structures Lewis Y (LeY), sialyl-LeX (sLeX) and Lewis X (LeX) on paired peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) granulocytes in patients with arthritic diseases.

METHODS

Ten patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), seven patients with spondyloarthritis (SA) and eight patients with osteoarthritis (OA) were studied. Granulocyte expression of the Le oligosaccharides was analysed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting.

RESULTS

SF granulocytes of patients with RA, SA and OA expressed higher levels of the LeY oligosaccharide than PB granulocytes. Increases in LeY on SF granulocytes were similar in all three underlying diseases. No differences in the expression of the Le antigens were detected between PB granulocytes of patients and healthy individuals. Expression of sLeX and LeX showed no variation between SF and PB neutrophils.

CONCLUSIONS

The selective increase in LeY antigen on SF granulocytes in RA, SA and OA suggests a role of the LeY oligosaccharide in granulocyte traffic and inflammatory responses.