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University of Groningen Exposure to Candida albicans Polarizes a T-Cell Driven Arthritis Model towards Th17 Responses, Resulting in a More Destructive Arthritis Marijnissen, Renoud

Background: Fungal components have been shown very effective in generating Th17 responses. We investigated whether exposure to a minute amount of C. albicans in the arthritic joint altered the local cytokine environment, leading to enhanced Th17 expansion and resulting in a more destructive arthritis. Methodology: Chronic SCW arthritis was induced by repeated injection with Streptococcus pyogenes (SCW) cell wall fragments into the knee joint of C57Bl/6 mice, alone or in combination with the yeast of C. albicans or Zymosan A. During the chronic phase of the arthritis, the cytokine levels, mRNA expression and histopathological analysis of the joints were performed. To investigate the phenotype of the IL-17 producing T-cells, synovial cells were isolated and analyzed by flowcytometry. Principal Findings: Intra-articular injection of either Zymosan A or C. albicans on top of the SCW injection both resulted in enhanced joint swelling and inflammation compared to the normal SCW group. However, only the addition of C. albicans during SCW arthritis resulted in severe chondrocyte death and enhanced destruction of cartilage and bone. Additionally, exposure to C. albicans led to increased IL-17 in the arthritic joint, which was accompanied by an increased synovial mRNA expression of T-bet and RORcT. Moreover, the C. albicans-injected mice had significantly more Th17 cells in the synovium, of which a large population also produced IFN-c. Conclusion: This study clearly shows that minute amounts of fungal components, like C. albicans, are very potent in interfering with the local cytokine environment in an arthritic joint, thereby polarizing arthritis towards a more destructive phenotype. Citation: Marijnissen RJ, Koenders MI, van de Veerdonk FL, Dulos J, Netea MG, et al. (2012) Exposure to Candida albicans Polarizes a T-Cell Driven Arthritis Model towards Th17 Responses, Resulting in a More Destructive Arthritis. PLoS ONE 7(6): e38889. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038889 Editor: Song Guo Zheng, University of Southern California, United States of America Received December 22, 2011; Accepted May 14, 2012; Published June 12, 2012 Copyright: 2012 Marijnissen et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: No current external funding sources for this study. Competing Interests: The authors have the following interest to declare. John Dulos is an employee of Crucell, Leiden. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors. * E-mail: rjmarijnissen@reuma.umcn.nl