Nonerosive immune-mediated polyarthritis is a condition of the diarthroidal movable joints like shoulder, knee, where the cartilage of the joint is not eroded. This condition is usually seen in multiple joints and is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease.
Antibody-antigen complexes also called immune complexes are deposited in the synovial membrane. These then initiate an abnormal immune response to the joint cartilage leading to an inflammatory response displaying clinical signs of arthritis.
Common symptoms include stiffness in legs, lameness, decreased range of motion, cracking of the joints, joint swelling, pain in joints, joint instability, dislocation
Ployarthritis could be of many types as described below.
Systemic lupus erythematosus: A noninfectious disease in which nuclear material from various cells become antigenic; and antibodies are formed to attack the body’s own joints.
Idiopathic polyarthritis
Polyarthritis associated with chronic disease: Chronic infectious, neoplastic, or enteropathic disease.
Polyarthritis-polymyositis syndrome: Combination of arthritis in multiple joints, with weakness, pain, and swelling of the muscles.
Polymyositis syndrome: Weakness, pain, and swelling of the muscles in the neck and legs.
Polyarthritis-meningitis syndrome: Combination of arthritis in multiple joints with inflammation of the brain, with fever, pain, and stiff muscles.
Polyarthritis nodosa: Arthritis in multiple joints with small nodular swellings
Familial renal amyloidosis: Genetically predisposed condition in Chinese shar-pei dogs causing deposits of hard, waxy protein fiber in the kidneys or surrounding area.
Juvenile-onset polyarthritis of Akita breed dog
Lymphocytic-plasmacytic synovitis: Swelling of the synovial membrane of the joint as the result of antibody attack on the tissue.