The synovio-entheseal complex and its role in tendon and capsular associated inflammation

Abstract

Tendon, ligament, and capsular insertions are parts of "enthesis organs" whereby the enthesis itself has an elaborate functional integration with the adjacent soft tissues and the synovium in particular. The purpose of this article is to review the sophisticated degree of integration between insertions and adjacent synovium in what has been dubbed "synovio-entheseal complexes" (SEC). SEC arise at multiple sites in the immediate vicinity of insertions and may also arise within the joint capsule at sites well away from enthesis insertions. Not only does this relationship between the enthesis and synovium hold in synovial joints, but it is also crucial for understanding the microanatomical basis for joint disease localization to tendons in the seronegative spondyloarthropathies as well as in other conditions including osteoarthritis. The fibrocartilages at insertions are prone to microdamage whereas this tissue is completely devoid of immune cells. In healthy conditions, the synovium lubricates and nourishes the entheseal associated fibrocartilages, but damage or aberrant tissue repair responses at the insertion may manifest as an immediately adjacent synovitis or tenosynovitis, given that the synovium has resident immune cell populations and the ability to undergo substantial hyperplasia. Therefore SEC are likely to represent key orchestrators that contribute to joint inflammation by mechanisms that have been hitherto poorly appreciated.