Figure 3.

Expression of macrophage-pro-inflammatory polarization markers by CD163⁺ macrophages from undifferentiated arthritis patients. (A) Immunofluorescence analysis of synovial tissues as determined by confocal microscopy using anti-activin A, TNFα-, MMP12-specific antibodies; nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. Samples were devoid of staining when incubated with isotype-matched irrelevant antibodies as negative controls. The experiment was carried out in independent samples from each type (NS, n=6; UA, n=16; UA>RA, n=8; RA, n=12; UA>PsA, n=9; and PsA, n=10) and representative experiments are shown. Scale bars, 50 µm. (B) Summary dot plot showing mean MFI values of activin A, TNF-α and MMP12 expression in CD163⁺ macrophages from NS, UA, UA>RA, RA, UA>PsA, and PsA synovial tissues samples. Mean ± SEM are shown (^* p < 0.05, ^** p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, Mann-Whitney test).