Relationship between impaired apoptosis of lymphocytes and distribution of dendritic cells in peripheral blood and synovial fluid of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Introduction: The pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is not fully understood. Recently the present authors described disturbed apoptosis of JIA lymphocytes in both peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) as well as an abnormal distribution of blood dendritic cells (BDCs) between the PB and SF in this disease. Possible relationships between these events during the development of JIA process are assessed here.