Experimental Animal Models for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Methods and Applications

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory dis-order characterized by synovitis and joint damage. The etiology of RA is multi-factorial including various genetic and environmental factors, and the pathogenesis is com-plex involving lymphocyte infiltration, synovial cell pro-liferation, pannus formation, and cartilage and bone destruction. Various animal models have been used to study potential etiopathogenetic mechanisms in RA. They are also extensively used to test new potential therapeutic agents. Despite some limitations, those animal models have significantly progressed our understanding of the basic mechanisms and have contributed to several current ma-jor advances in the treatment of RA. These models include the induced arthritis models such as collagen-induced ar-thritis (CIA), antibody-induced arthritis, the genetically manipulated or spontaneous arthritis models, and human-ized mouse models. The choice regarding the proper model should be performed carefully, taking into account the bi-ology of the animal model and the therapeutic target un-der evaluation in order to make better predictions of effi-cacy in human RA. Thus, in this review, we describe im-portant mouse models of RA, focusing on the underlying mechanisms, methods, advantages and limitations, and usefulness.