@article{3000754,
    title = "Comorbid TNF-mediated heart valve disease and chronic polyarthritis share common mesenchymal cell-mediated aetiopathogenesis",
    author = "Ntari, L. and Sakkou, M. and Chouvardas, P. and Mourouzis, I. and Prados, A. and Denis, M.C. and Karagianni, N. and Pantos, C. and Kollias, G.",
    journal = "Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases",
    year = "2018",
    volume = "77",
    number = "6",
    pages = "926-934",
    publisher = "BMJ Publishing Group",
    issn = "0003-4967, 1468-2060",
    doi = "10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212597",
    keywords = "tumor necrosis factor;  tumor necrosis factor receptor 1;  Tnfrsf1a protein, mouse;  tumor necrosis factor;  tumor necrosis factor receptor 1, animal experiment;  animal model;  animal tissue;  Article;  comorbidity;  controlled study;  echocardiography;  heart arrhythmia;  heart function;  heart left ventricle failure;  heart valve stenosis;  histopathology;  inflammation;  mesenchyme cell;  mortality rate;  mouse;  mouse model;  mouse mutant;  nonhuman;  pathogenesis;  priority journal;  rheumatoid arthritis;  RNA sequence;  signal transduction;  spondylarthritis;  transgene;  valvular heart disease;  animal;  aortic valve;  chronic disease;  complication;  etiology;  experimental arthritis;  female;  fibrosis;  heart left ventricle function;  immunology;  male;  mesenchymal stem cell;  mitral valve;  mutant mouse strain;  pathology;  valvular heart disease, Animals;  Aortic Valve;  Arthritis, Experimental;  Chronic Disease;  Female;  Fibrosis;  Heart Valve Diseases;  Male;  Mesenchymal Stem Cells;  Mice, Mutant Strains;  Mitral Valve;  Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Type I;  Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha;  Ventricular Dysfunction, Left",
    abstract = "Objectives: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritisshow higher mortality rates, mainly caused by cardiac comorbidities. The TghuTNF (Tg197) arthritis model develops tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-driven and mesenchymalsynovial fibroblast (SF)-dependent polyarthritis. Here, we investigate whether this model develops, similarly to human patients, comorbid heart pathology and explore cellular and molecular mechanisms linking arthritis to cardiac comorbidities. Methods: Histopathological analysis and echocardiographic evaluation of cardiac function were performed in the Tg197 model. Valve interstitial cells (VICs) were targeted by mice carrying the ColVI-Cretransgene. Tg197 ColVI-Cre Tnfr1fl/fl and Tg197 ColVI-Cre Tnfr1cneo/cneo mutant mice were used to explore the role of mesenchymal TNF signalling in the development of heart valve disease. Pathogenic VICs and SFs were further analysed by comparative RNA-sequencing analysis. Results: Tg197 mice develop left-sided heart valve disease, characterised by valvular fibrosis with minimal signs of inflammation. Thickened valve areas consist almost entirely of hyperproliferative ColVI-expressing mesenchymal VICs. Development of pathology results in valve stenosis and left ventricular dysfunction, accompanied by arrhythmic episodes and, occasionally, valvular regurgitation. TNF dependency of the pathology was indicated by disease modulation following pharmacological inhibition or mesenchymal-specific genetic ablation or activation of TNF/TNFR1 signalling. Tg197-derived VICs exhibited an activated phenotype ex vivo, reminiscent of the activated pathogenic phenotype of Tg197-derived SFs. Significant functional similarities between SFs and VICs were revealed by RNA-seq analysis, demonstrating common cellular mechanisms underlying TNF-mediated arthritides and cardiac comorbidities. Conclusions: Comorbidheart valve disease and chronic polyarthritis are efficiently modelled in the Tg197 arthritis model and share common TNF/TNFR1-mediated, mesenchymal cell-specific aetiopathogenic mechanisms. © 2018 Article author(s)."
}