Specificity of anti-type II collagen antibody response in rats.

Specificity of the rat antibody against type II collagen was investigated using rat, bovine and human type II collagen preparations. PVG/c rats showed the highest antibody level in assays with autologous rat type II collagen than with heterologous (bovine or human) type II collagen even when immunized with heterologous one. On the other hand, the rat exhibited significantly low antibody response when they were immunized with autologous type II collagen. The results indicate that rats develop strong antibody response against self type II collagen when immunized with heterologous collagen and this unique specificity of anti-type II collagen antibody response suggests that autoimmunity is involved in the pathogenesis of collagen-induced arthritis in rats.