Increased expression of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase induced in rheumatoid synovium

Objective To investigate the expression of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase induced (EMMPRIN) in the synovial membrane of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods Immunohistochemistry were performed to characterize the EMMPRIN-expressing cells at sites of joint destruction derived from RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients.Reverse trancription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to study the existence of EMMPRIN in synovial membrane samples.And it was followed by computer assisted image analysis in order to detect the A values of their experession.Results EMMPRIN immunoreactivity was more intense in RA than in OA synovial membrane (P0.01). EMMPRIN staining was more widespread in RA than in OA,especially in association with macrophage infiltrates.RT-PCR of synovial membrane samples disclosed the presence of EMMPRIN mRNA.In RA,the A value of EMMPRIN were increased significantly as compared to OA (P0.01).Conclusion The expression of EMMPRIN is up-regulated in the rheumatoid synovial membrance.EMMPRIN can induce local production of MMPs,and can thereby play a role in joint destruction in RA.