Elevated levels of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with knee articular cartilage injury

Figure 1 Levels of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and vascular endothelial growth factor in patient and control groups. ^aP < 0.05, vs control group. IL-1β: Interleukin-1β; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor.

Figure 2 Serum levels of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in patients with different degrees of knee articular cartilage injury. ^aP < 0.05, vs mild; ^cP < 0.05, vs moderate group. IL-1β: Interleukin-1β; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor.

Figure 3 Immunohistochemical staining analysis of the number of positive cells of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and vascular endothelial growth factor in synovial membrane (%). ^aP < 0.05, vs mild; ^cP < 0.05, vs moderate group. IL-1β: Interleukin-1β; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor.

Figure 4 Comparisons of changes in clinical indices before and after treatment. ^aP < 0.05, vs before treatment. VAS: Visual analogue scale; WOMAC: Western Ontario and McMaster University of Orthopaedic Index.

Figure 5 Correlation analysis of interleukin-1β (A) or tumor necrosis factor-α (B) with vascular endothelial growth factor. IL-1β: Interleukin-1β; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor.