Deficiency of IL-1 receptor antagonist suppresses IL-10-producing B cells in autoimmune arthritis in an IL-17/Th17-dependent manner.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease with CD4+ T cell infiltration and hyperplasia of synovial tissues leading to progressive destruction of articular cartilage. In addition to the central role of T cells in the pathogenesis of RA, recent reports have suggested that B cells also contribute to RA. To explore the effects of interleukin (IL)-17 on B cell development and response in excess IL-1 signaling, we generated IL-17 and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) double-deficient mice via backcrossing IL-17 knockout (KO) and IL-1RaKO mice. We studied the effect of IL-17 deficiency on antibody-producing B cells and regulatory B cells in IL-1RaKO mice. Excess IL-1 signal increased the frequency of B220+ IgG+ cells and plasma cells. It also promoted the production of immunoglobulins in vitro. Moreover, IL-17 deficiency significantly enhanced the frequency of regulatory IL-10-producing regulatory B cells in IL-1RaKO mice. IL-17 deficiency ameliorated disease symptoms of inflammatory arthritis in IL-1RaKO mice by suppressing the frequency of plasma cells and antibody production while enhancing the frequency of IL-10-producing B cells. These findings suggest that IL-17 can trigger an inflammatory immune reaction by activating antibody-producing B cells while suppressing immune regulatory B cells in RA.