Mast cells in rheumatoid arthritis: Friends or foes?

Publication date: Available online 12 April 2017
Source:Autoimmunity Reviews
Author(s): Felice Rivellese, Alessandra Nerviani, Francesca Wanda Rossi, Gianni Marone, Marco Matucci-Cerinic, Amato de Paulis, Costantino Pitzalis
Mast cells are tissue-resident cells of the innate immunity, implicated in the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They are present in synovia and their activation has been linked to the potentiation of inflammation in the course of RA. However, recent investigations questioned the role of mast cells in arthritis. In particular, animal models generated conflicting results, so that many of their pro-inflammatory, i.e. pro-arthritogenic functions, even though supported by robust experimental evidences, have been labelled as redundant. At the same time, a growing body of evidences suggests that mast cells can act as tunable immunomodulatory cells. These characteristics, not yet fully understood in the context of RA, could partially explain the inconsistent results obtained with experimental models, which do not account for the pro- and anti-inflammatory functions exerted in more chronic heterogeneous conditions such as RA. Here we present an overview of the current knowledge on mast cell involvement in RA, including the intriguing hypothesis of mast cells acting as subtle immunomodulatory cells and the emerging concept of synovial mast cells as potential biomarkers for patient stratification.



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