ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To isolate and characterize human rheumatoid arthritis (RA) fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The synovial membrane tissues were obtained from 4 RA patients, 1 chondroma patient and 1 healthy subject and FLS were isolated by means of tissue culture. The cell morphology was observed by phase-contrast microscope and the cell surface markers were detected by flow cytometry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The FLSs were successfully cultured from the synovial membrane tissues with good cell homogeneity after the third passage. The FLSs of the 3rd to 7th passages were stable and proliferated actively, followed by slow proliferation and aging since the 8th passage. Flow cytometry showed that the 4th-passage FLSs from the RA patients contained 99.04% CD90(+) cells, 2.73% CD3(+) cells, 0.29% CD3(-)CD19(+) cells, 2.81% CD3(-)CD16(+)CD56(+) cells, 5.89% CD14(+) cells, and 54.17% CD55(+) cells. The presence of interleukin-1 receptor type I (IL-1RI, 158.63-/+20.32 pg/ml) and IL-1beta (4.67-/+0.82 pg/ml) were detected in the cell culture supernatant of the 4th-passage FLSs from the RA patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>FLSs from RA patients can be effectively culture by means of tissue culture, and the cultured FLSs show high expressions of CD90, IL-1RI and IL-1beta.</p>