A novel role for mitochondrial dysfunction in the inflammatory response of rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

The inflammation hypothesis of ageing suggests that molecular inflammation could be an underpinning of ageing and age-related diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Besides, mitochondrial alterations may contribute to the progression of RA. In this study we investigated the relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction and the in vitro expression of cyclooxigenase-2 (COX-2), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and interleukin-8 (IL8) in normal human synoviocytes. Commonly used inhibitors to induce mitochondrial dysfunction were employed (antimycin A (AA) and oligomycin (OLI), inhibitors of complexes III and …