Table 3.

Potential role of microparticles in the development of rheumatoid arthritis.

MPs as a Potential Pathogenetic Factor of RA	References
Activation of Immunocompetent Cells
Activation of B-cells by macrophage/monocyte-derived MPs from synovial fluid	Messer et al. [59]
Participation in Formation of Immune Complexes
Increased number of C1q, C4, C3-binding MPs in synovial fluid and in peripheral blood	Biro et al. [60]
mpIC present in synovial fluid	Cloutier et al. [61]
Increased Secretion of Matrix Metaloproteinases
Monocyte- and B-cell-derived MPs can induce the release of MMP3, MMP9, MMP13 in FLS	Distler et al. [62]
Modulation of Chemokine and Cytokine Release
Monocyte- and granulocyte-derived MPs from synovial fluid modulate MCP-1, IL-6, IL-8, and CCL5 release by synoviocytes	Berckmans et al. [63]
Increased secretion of TNFα and IL-1, IL-17 by monocytes stimulated by monocyte-, B-cell-, T-cell-, platelet-derived MPs from peripheral blood	Viñuela-Berni et al. [52]
Pro-Coagulation Activity
Monocyte- and granulocyte-derived MPs from synovial fluid are strongly coagulant via the factor VII-dependent pathway	Berckmans et al. [64]
Activation of Vascular Endothelium Cells
MPs from articular fluid stimulate FLS production and release of VEGF	Berckmans et al. [63]
Stimulating effect of leukocyte-derived MPs on production and release by rheumatoid synoviocytes of proangiogenic CXC	Reich et al. [65]

C—complement component; CCL—C-C motif chemokine ligand; CXC—CXC chemokines; FLS—fibroblast-like synoviocyte; IL—interleukin; MCP—monocyte chemoattractant protein; MMP—metalloproteinase; MPs—microparticles; RA—rheumatoid factor; TNF—tumor necrosis factor; VEGF—vascular endothelium growth factor.