Adjuvant arthritis 50 years on: the impact of the 1956 article by C. M. Pearson, ‘Development of arthritis, periarthritis and periostitis in rats given adjuvants’

Abstract

The Science Citation Index (Web of Science) has now accumulated over 700 citations to this report published in Proc Soc exp Biol Med 1956; 91: 95-101, including several in 2006. This memoire is a tribute to its author for revealing the opportunities for so much subsequent research in experimental pharmacology and toxicology. For half a century, the adjuvant disease in rats has enormously aided research on drugs to control arthritis and other chronic inflammatory disorders. The adjuvant also triggers many systemic responses beyond the articular tissues. So we are given simultaneously a window to explore the converse phenomenon: namely, how a chronic disease can affect drug efficacy and toxicity. This phenomenon has been variously described as patho-pharmacodynamics, conditional pharmacology/toxicology and 'a right nuisance' ! Nevertheless it has enormous heuristic value for clinical therapeutics.

Activation of NALP1 inflammasomes in rats with adjuvant arthritis; a novel therapeutic target of carboxyamidotriazole in a model of rheumatoid arthritis

“…The AA model is widely used as an animal model to investigate the pathogenic mechanisms of RA and to evaluate anti‐arthritic drugs (Whitehouse, ). Here we used this model to detect the expressions and activities of NALP inflammasomes in the synovial tissue and changes in their pattern during arthritis.…”

Profiling of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, p38 and JAK inhibitors in the rat adjuvant‐induced arthritis model: a translational study

“…Rat AIA is a robust animal model characterized by both local and systemic inflammation. Its resemblance to human RA, except for the absence of rheumatoid factor, has been well established (Rainsford, 1982; Whitehouse, 2007). A considerable amount of information is available on the articular (oedema, bone resorption) as well as extra‐articular (haematological, biochemical, metabolic, organ‐related) alterations induced in the adjuvant disease, which can be exploited in the combined analysis of the effects of new drugs.…”

Bedding Material Affects Mechanical Thresholds, Heat Thresholds, and Texture Preference

“…However, a much greater problem clinically is chronic pain, which typically is characterized as pain lasting for at least 3 months 27 and often patients are first seen by a physician months to a year after pain was first noticed. The CFA model of inflammation has been widely used in acute inflammation 36,37,49 , however, it can also be used for chronic inflammation (3 or more weeks after injection) and shares characteristics of CFA-induced arthritis 19,39,61 . We observed that chronic inflammation (5 weeks post CFA injection) had the same effect on mechanical sensitization as acute (2 day) inflammation.…”