Chikungunya Arthritis Mechanisms in the Americas: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Chikungunya Arthritis Patients Twenty-Two Months After Infection Demonstrating No Detectable Viral Persistence in Synovial Fluid.
Aileen Y ChangKaren A O MartinsLiliana EncinalesSt Patrick ReidMarlon AcuñaCarlos EncinalesChristian B MatrangaNelly PachecoCarlos CureBhavarth ShuklaTeofilo Ruiz ArtetaRichard AmdurLisa H CazaresMelissa GregoryMichael D WardAlexandra PorrasAlejandro Rico MendozaLian DongTara KennyErnie BrueggemannLydia G DowneyPriyanka KamalapathyPaola LichtenbergerOrlando FallsGary L SimonJeffrey M BethonyGary S FiresteinPublished in: Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) (2018)
This is one of the largest observational studies involving analysis of the synovial fluid of chikungunya arthritis patients. Synovial fluid analysis revealed no detectable chikungunya virus. This finding suggests that chikungunya virus may cause arthritis through induction of potential host autoimmunity, suggesting a role for immunomodulating agents in the treatment of chikungunya arthritis, or that low-level viral persistence exists in synovial tissue only and is undetectable in synovial fluid.