Published online Oct 6, 2019. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v7.i19.2963
Peer-review started: July 14, 2019
First decision: August 2, 2019
Revised: August 9, 2019
Accepted: August 20, 2019
Article in press: August 20, 2019
Published online: October 6, 2019
Osteoarthritis is the most common musculoskeletal disease in the world, which is characterized by articular cartilage degeneration, subchondral sclerosis, and narrowing of joint space. It is the sixth leading cause of disability worldwide and is expected to rise to the fourth by 2020, causing serious impact on the society and families. Therefore, finding biological markers related to the diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis is of great significance in clinical practice.
At present, the clinical efficacy evaluation for osteoarthritis mostly depends on VAS, Lysholm, and WOMAC scores, all of which are easily affected by subjective factors. Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) classification is usually employed to assess the therapeutic effect of osteoarthritis patients as well, but it has the disadvantages of radiation, high cost, and being time-consuming. This study explored the application of serological analysis in diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis by analyzing the diagnostic and therapeutic value of miR-145 and inflammatory factors in peripheral blood of patients, so as to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis.
The study aimed to explore the application of serological analysis in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis by analyzing the diagnostic and therapeutic value of miR-145 and inflammatory factors in peripheral blood of patients, so as to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis.
Eighty-three patients with knee osteoarthritis admitted to our hospital from April 2013 to June 2015 and 60 healthy subjects were enrolled in our study. The expression of miR-145 in the peripheral blood in the two groups was detected by qRT-PCR, and the changes of miR-145, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, as well as VAS, Lysholm, and WOMAC scores after 4 weeks of treatment were compared between the two groups. Furthermore, Pearson correlation analysis, Spearman correlation analysis, and ROC curve analysis were used to analyze the relationship of miR-145, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 levels with VAS, Lysholm, and WOMAC scores to verify the application value of miR-145 and inflammatory factors in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis.
This study found that the expression of miR-145 and inflammatory factors increased in patients with knee osteoarthritis, with corresponding decrease and increase after treatment. VAS, Lysholm, and WOMAC scores were significantly improved after treatment, suggesting that the treatment was effective and the reduction of miR-145 and inflammatory factors after treatment might be related to the improvement of the patient's condition. Pearson correlation analysis showed that VAS, Lysholm, and WOMAC scores were either positively or negatively correlated with miR-145 and inflammatory factors, which verified our previous speculation. Moreover, the changes of miR-145 and inflammatory factors were related to the improvement of the patient's condition, indicating that miR-145 and inflammatory factors might be the potential efficacy predictors for osteoarthritis. This study also revealed that miR-145 and inflammatory factors were closely related to K-L classification, which suggested that miR-145 and inflammatory factors are valuable in determining the severity of osteoarthritis, and might be potential biological markers for osteoarthritis diagnosis in the future.
The levels of miR-145 and inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10) in peripheral blood of patients with osteoarthritis are significantly higher than those in healthy individuals, and increase with the severity of the disease, suggesting that miR-145 and inflammatory factors might be objective indicators to assess the progression of osteoarthritis. After treatment, the levels of miR-145 and inflammatory factors change significantly in patients with osteoarthritis, and are closely related to therapeutic effect-related indicators (VAS, Lysholm, and WOMAC scores). Therefore, miR-145 and inflammatory factors have potential value for evaluating the therapeutic effect on osteoarthritis. This study demonstrates that miR-145 and inflammatory factors are valuable in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis, which are expected to become potential indicators for future diagnosis and efficacy evaluation.
This study reveals the potential role of miR-145 and inflammatory factors in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis. For the better use of miR-145 and inflammatory factors in clinical practice, the blood sampling time point needs further confirmation. Besides, whether miR-145 can become a target for osteoarthritis treatment needs further analysis. The mechanism of action of miR-145 on the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis needs to be verified by in vitro cell experiments and in vivo animal experiments to provide an experimental basis for identifying new targets for osteoarthritis treatment.