Inhibition of inflammation but not ankylosis by glucocorticoids in mice: further evidence for the entheseal stress hypothesis

INTRODUCTION: Studies in the spontaneous ankylosis model in aging male DBA/1 mice and in patients with ankylosing spondylitis provide evidence that inflammation and new tissue formation leading to joint or spine ankylosis are likely linked but largely uncoupled processes. We previously proposed the 'entheseal stress' hypothesis that defines microdamage or cell stress in the enthesis as a trigger for these disease processes. Here, we further investigated the relationship between inflammation and ankylosis by focusing on the early phase of the spontaneous arthritis model. METHODS: Aging male DBA/1 mice from different litters were caged together at the age of ten weeks and studied for signs of arthritis. A group of DBA/1 mice were treated daily with dexamethasone (0.5 μg/g body weight). Severity of disease was assessed by histomorphology and by positron emission tomography (PET) using 2-[(18)F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) as a tracer. Bone loss in dexamethasone-treated or control mice was determined by in vivo dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Chemokine gene expression was studied ex vivo in dissected paws and in vitro in mesenchymal cells (periosteal and bone marrow stromal cells) by quantitative real-time PCR in the presence or absence of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) and dexamethasone. RESULTS: Dexamethasone treatment did not affect incidence or severity of ankylosis, but led to an expected reduction in inflammation in the paws at week 15 as measured by PET tracer uptake. Treatment with dexamethasone negatively affected bone mineral density. Chemokines attracting neutrophils and lymphocytes were expressed in affected paws. In vitro, BMP2 stimulation upregulated chemokines in different mesenchymal joint-associated cell types, an effect that was inhibited by dexamethasone. CONCLUSIONS: BMP signaling may be a trigger for both inflammation and ankylosis in the spontaneous model of ankylosing enthesitis. The lack of inhibition by glucocorticoids on new bone formation while causing systemic bone loss highlights the paradoxical simultaneous loss and gain of bone in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.