Abstract:

BACKGROUND: It is confirmed that the onset of osteoarthritis is closely related to inflammatory cytokines.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the levels of interleukin-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-3 in the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis and their correlation with the severity of osteoarthritis.

METHODS: Synovial fluid specimens of 78 patients were harvested to detect the levels of interleukin-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-3 using ELISA assay. The severity of osteoarthritis was estimated by the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score. Pearson correlation analysis was adopted to explore the pairwise correlations between interleukin-6, matrix metalloproteinase-3 and HSS score.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The levels of interleukin-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-3 in the synovial fluid were (13.1±5.7) and (989.3±429.5) μg/L, respectively; the HSS score was (56.4±12.0) points. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the expression levels of interleukin-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-3 had a significant positive correlation (r=0.70, P < 0.001); the levels of interleukin-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-3 had a negative correlation with the HSS scores (r=-0.70, r=-0.75, P < 0.001). Experimental findings show that there is a positive correlation between interleukin-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-3 in the synovial fluids, and these two cytokines also have a positive correlation with the severity of osteoarthritis, indicating that to measure interleukin-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-3 levels in the synovial fluids of osteoarthritis patients is important for early diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis.

中国组织工程研究杂志出版内容重点：组织构建；骨细胞；软骨细胞；细胞培养；成纤维细胞；血管内皮细胞；骨质疏松；组织工程

Key words: Osteoarthritis, Interleukin-6, Matrix Metalloproteinases