Simultaneous, clonally identical T cell expansion in tonsil and synovium in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis and chronic tonsillitis

In some patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the disease improves following tonsillectomy. We describe a 28-year-old woman with treatment-resistant RA and chronic tonsillitis. Initially, her arthritis had been well controlled with methotrexate and corticosteroids, but the RA activity became difficult to control in spite of addition of bucillamine to the treatment regimen and repeated arthrocentesis with infusion of corticosteroid into her swollen joints. Closer examination revealed that the period of exacerbation of her chronic tonsillitis paralleled that of the systemic arthritis, and administration of antibiotics brought transient relief of the systemic symptoms. Her arthritis was ameliorated after successful tonsillectomy and synovectomy, with marked reduction of the serum rheumatoid factor concentration. Analysis of infiltrating T cell clones in tonsil and synovium using T cell receptor V-beta repertoire and third complementarity-determining region size distribution analysis followed by nucleotide sequencing revealed common clonal T cell expansion in both tissues. This finding suggests the possible involvement of chronic focal infection in refractory RA.