A non-peptide CCR5 antagonist inhibits collagen-induced arthritis by modulating T cell migration without affecting anti-collagen T cell responses

The chemokine receptors CCR5 and CXCR3 have been implicated as playing a central role in directing a Th1 inflammatory response. Here, we investigated whether a synthetic CCR5 antagonist affects the process of T cell migration to sites of inflammation. Immunization of DBA/1 mice with type II collagen resulted in typical arthritis, which is associated with cellular infiltration. Treatment with a CCR5 antagonist strikingly affected the development of arthritis by reducing both incidence and severity of disease. There was no substantial difference between collagen-immunized mice with and without antagonist treatment in the induction of anti-collagen T cell responses and the capacity to produce IL-12. This endogenous IL-12 functioned to induce comparable levels of CCR5 in these two immunized groups of T cells. Whereas a massive infiltration of inflammatory cells including CCR5⁺ T cells occurred in the joints of mice immunized without antagonist, cellular infiltration in the antagonist-treated group was only marginal. These results indicate that administration of a CCR5 antagonist inhibits the development of arthritis not by affecting the generation of collagen-sensitized T cells but by interfering with their migration to joint lesions.