Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jun 6, 2019; 7(11): 1262-1269
Published online Jun 6, 2019. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v7.i11.1262
Elevated levels of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with knee articular cartilage injury
Zhen-Wei Wang, Le Chen, Xiao-Rui Hao, Zhen-An Qu, Shi-Bo Huang, Xiao-Jun Ma, Jian-Chuan Wang, Wei-Ming Wang
Zhen-Wei Wang, Le Chen, Xiao-Rui Hao, Zhen-An Qu, Shi-Bo Huang, Xiao-Jun Ma, Jian-Chuan Wang, Wei-Ming Wang, Department of Sports Medicine, Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, Dalian 16000, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Wang ZW performed the majority of experiments and analyzed the data; Chen L, Hao XR, Ou ZA, Huang SB, Ma XJ and Wang JC performed the experiments; Wang WM designed the research and wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: This study has been approved by the ethnic committee of Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflict-of-interest to state.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Wei-Ming Wang, BSc, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Sports Medicine, Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, 6 Jiefang Jie, Zhongshan District, Dalian 116001, Liaoning Province, China. wangwm_01@126.com
Telephone: +86-411-62893145 Fax: +86-411-62893145
Received: February 22, 2019
Peer-review started: February 24, 2019
First decision: March 10, 2019
Revised: March 20, 2019
Accepted: April 8, 2019
Article in press: April 9, 2019
Published online: June 6, 2019
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Inflammatory cytokines play a vital role in the occurrence of osteoarticular injury and inflammation. Whether inflammation-associated factors interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are involved in the pathogenesis of keen articular cartilage injury remains poorly understood.

AIM

To measure the levels of inflammatory factors [IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF] in patients with knee articular cartilage injury.

METHODS

Fifty-five patients with knee articular cartilage injury were selected as patient groups, who were divided into three grades [mild (n = 20), moderate (n = 19) and severe (n = 16)] according to disease severity and X-ray examinations. Meanwhile, 30 healthy individuals who underwent physical examination were selected as the control group. The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF were measured by ELISA and immunohistochemical staining.

RESULTS

Compared with the control group, patient groups displayed significantly higher levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF, and the extent of increase was directly proportional to the severity of injury (P < 0.05). In addition, the number of cells with positive staining of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF in the synovial membrane were significantly increased, along with increased disease severity (P < 0.05). After treatment, the scores of visual analogue scale and the Western Ontario and McMaster University of Orthopaedic Index in patient groups were 2.26 ± 1.13 and 15.56 ± 7.12 points, respectively, which were significantly lower than those before treatment (6.98 ± 1.32 and 49.48 ± 8.96). Correlation analysis suggested that IL-1β and TNF-α were positively correlated with VEGF.

CONCLUSION

IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF levels are increased in patients with knee articular cartilage injury, and are associated with the disease severity, indicating they might play an important role in the occurrence and development of knee articular cartilage injury. Furthermore, therapeutically targeting them might be a novel approach for the treatment of keen articular cartilage injury.

Keywords: Knee articular cartilage injury, Interleukin-1β, Interleukin-6, Tumor necrosis factor-α, Vascular endothelial growth factor

Core tip: Increased levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and vascular endothelial growth factor are found in patients with knee articular cartilage injury, and are associated with the disease severity, suggesting that they might be involved in the pathogenesis of knee articular cartilage injury. Furthermore, therapeutically targeting them might be beneficial for the treatment of knee articular cartilage injury.