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Psychological stress has long been associated with worsening symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the underlying mechanism connecting psychological stress to the occurrence of joint inflammation has remained poorly understood. In particular, how psychological stress can trigger inflammation in joints that were previously affected, even after the disease has gone into remission, remains an important unanswered question.

To answer this, a team of researchers from Chiba University, Japan, in collaboration with Asahi General Hospital, Japan, and International University of Health and Welfare Narita Hospital, Japan, investigated how psychological stress can reactivate arthritis.

The study was led by Assistant Professor Shigeru Tanaka, along with Professor Hiroshi Nakajima from the Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University. Their findings were published in the journal Science Advances.

The researchers examined stress-induced arthritis flares in mice. They used a mouse model in which arthritis was allowed to enter a remission-like state before the animals were exposed to restraint stress. Following exposure to stress, they found that psychological stress reactivated inflammation in the joints.

Using tissue analysis, immune-cell profiling and molecular measurements, the researchers then traced the inflammatory signals activated by stress.

The experiments revealed that stress activated the sympathetic nervous system and brown adipose tissue, a type of body fat involved in producing heat. This activation caused BAT to release interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory signaling protein.

"Our findings suggest that the effects of psychological stress on arthritis extend beyond the immune cells traditionally associated with autoimmune disease.

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