Expression Of Angiogenic Cytokines In Serum Of Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis And Its Relationship With The Severity Of Primary Knee Osteoarthritis And TCM Syndrome

ObjectiveThe main objective of this study was to compare serum levels of angiogenic cytokine in knee osteoarthritis(OA)patients and healthy controls and to investigate the relationships between angiogenic cytokines and the severity of knee OA and to analyze the correlation between the levels of angiogenic cytokines and different Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)syndromes of knee OA.Methods158 knee OA patients and 58 healthy controls were enrolled in this study.158 patients with knee OA patients were divided into four groups according to TCM syndrome differentiation,group 1 is GanShen Kuixu;group 2 Qizhi Xueyu;group 3 Hanshi Bi;group 4 Shire Bi.The knee OA severity evaluation of 158 knee OA patients were performed using the Kellgren and Lawrence(KL)grading system.Three angiogenic cytokines levels(hypoxia-inducible factor-1?(HIF-1 ?)? vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)? CD31/platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule,(PECAM-1))in serum of both knee OA patients and healthy controls were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).All results statistics were analysed by SPSS 13.0.Results1.The serum concentrations of HIF-1??VEGF and CD31 were significantly higher in knee OA patients than those in controls(P<0.001).2.HIF-1? and VEGF in serum were significantly greater in advanced OA than in early OA and were positively correlated with the severity(r=0.249,P =0.002;r=0.311,P<0.001).However,serum CD31 was irrelevant to the severity(r=0.137,P =0.086).3.Compared to four types according to TCM syndrome differentiation,the expression of serum HIF-1? and VEGF showed no difference of statistically significant(P>0.05);however,CD31 level was significantly higher in type 2 than the other three types.The difference was statistically significant(P<0.05)with one-way analysis of variance(One-Way ANOVA)(P <0.05).ConclusionSerum level of angiogenic cytokine concentrations(HIF-1??VEGF and CD31)are help to distinguish the healthy people and OA patients.Meanwhile,level of HIF-1? and VEGF in plasma may have potential as biochemical markers for the assessment of OA severity and monitor the progression of knee OA.And CD31 level in plasma can provide an objective basis for Qizhi Xueyu TCM syndrome differentiation to a certain extent.