Antigen-induced arthritis severity is potently reduced by combinatorial blockade of IL-6 and IL-21 signaling pathways.

Abstract

<p>Joint swelling of WT, IL-6^-/-, IL-21R^-/-, and IL-6^-/- x IL-21R^-/- mice at day 1 (A), day 2 (B), and day 4 (C) after arthritis induction, depicted as ratio between right and left knee joint, measured by ^99mTechnetium pertechnetate uptake in the joint (n = 6/group). Histologically scored inflammation, bone erosion (both H&E staining, scale bar 500 μM), and cartilage proteoglycan depletion (SafO staining, scale bar 200 μM) (D; n = 10/group). *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001 versus WT; ^#p<0.05, ^###p<0.001 versus IL-6^-/-; ^p<0.05 versus IL-21R^-/-; A+B One-way ANOVA, C+D Kruskal-Wallis.</p