Objectives To correlate the level of fibrocytes in peripheral blood, synovial tissue and in vitro culture in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with changes in disease activity, imaging and pulmonary function. Methods Twenty patients with early RA (ERA) and 20 patients with long-standing RA (LRA) were enrolled in a 6-month prospective study. Sixteen patients undergoing wrist arthroscopy were healthy controls. Patients with RA underwent pulmonary function tests, ultrasound and synovial ultrasound-guided needle biopsy of the same wrist at baseline and 6 months. Wrist MRI was performed at baseline (all) and 6 months (ERA). Circulating fibrocytes were measured by flow cytometry, in vitro by the number of monocytes that were differentiated to fibrocytes and in synovial biopsies by counting in histological sections. Results Fibrocytes were primarily located around vessels and in the subintimal area in the synovium. Fibrocyte levels did not decline during the trial despite effective RA treatment. In the ERA group, increased synovitis assessed by ultrasound was moderate and strongly correlated with an increase in circulating and synovial fibrocyte levels, respectively. Increased synovitis assessed by MRI during the trial in the ERA group was moderately correlated with both increased numbers of circulating and cultured fibrocytes. Absolute diffusion capacity level was overall weakly negatively correlated with the level of circulating and synovial fibrocytes. The decline in diffusion capacity during the trial was moderately correlated with increased levels of synovial fibrocytes. Conclusion Our findings suggest that fibrocytes are involved in RA pathogenesis, both in the synovium and the reduction in lung function seen in a part of patients with RA. Trial registration number [NCT02652299][1]. [1]: /lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT02652299&atom=%2Frmdopen%2F7%2F1%2Fe001494.atom

中文翻译：

---

早期和长期类风湿性关节炎中的纤维细胞：一项为期 6 个月的反复滑膜活检、影像学和肺功能测试的试验

目的 将类风湿性关节炎 (RA) 患者外周血、滑膜组织和体外培养中的纤维细胞水平与疾病活动度、影像学和肺功能的变化相关联。方法 20 名早期 RA (ERA) 患者和 20 名长期 RA (LRA) 患者参加了一项为期 6 个月的前瞻性研究。16 名接受腕关节镜检查的患者是健康对照。RA 患者在基线和 6 个月时接受了肺功能检查、超声和滑膜超声引导下的同一手腕穿刺活检。在基线（全部）和 6 个月（ERA）时进行腕部 MRI。循环纤维细胞通过流式细胞术测量，体外通过分化为纤维细胞的单核细胞数量测量，滑膜活检通过组织切片计数测量。结果 纤维细胞主要位于血管周围和滑膜内膜下区域。尽管进行了有效的 RA 治疗，但在试验期间，纤维细胞水平并未下降。在 ERA 组中，超声评估的滑膜炎增加是中度的，并且分别与循环和滑膜纤维细胞水平的增加密切相关。ERA 组在试验期间通过 MRI 评估的滑膜炎增加与循环和培养的纤维细胞数量增加中度相关。绝对扩散能力水平总体上与循环和滑膜纤维细胞水平呈弱负相关。试验期间扩散能力的下降与滑膜纤维细胞水平的增加有中等程度的相关性。结论 我们的研究结果表明纤维细胞参与了 RA 的发病机制，部分 RA 患者的滑膜和肺功能下降。试验注册号 [NCT02652299][1]。[1]：/lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT02652299&atom=%2Frmdopen%2F7%2F1%2Fe001494.atom