ABSTRACT
Objective: To discuss the expression of IL-7R genes in the synovium of osteoarthritis (OA) patients and the value of its clinical significance.
Methods: Forty-one patients who had total knee arthroplasty were selected for the OA group, from the Department of Orthopaedics in our hospital, and 36 patients who had arthroscopic surgery because of meniscus injury and cruciate ligament injury were selected for the control group. Fresh synovial tissues were collected for gene-chip analysis, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection, haematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining experiment, immunohistochemistry experiment and detection of IL-7R gene expression. Comparison was made between the results of these two groups.
Results: The results of gene-chips and real-time PCR detection showed that the expression of IL-7R in OA synovial tissues in the knees was lower than that in the normal synovial tissues in the knees. The statistical analysis of IL-7R mRNA showed that the expression of IL-7R mRNA in OA synovial tissues in the knees (0.13 ± 0.55) was lower than that in the normal synovial tissues in the knees (0.93 ± 0.12, p = 0.001). The result of HE staining showed that synovial tissues in the OA group had something similar to papillary hyperplasia and thickening. Immunohistochemistry research showed that IL-7R expression mainly existed in the cytoplasm of synovial tissues in the knees and the expression of IL-7R in OA synovial tissues was lower than that in the normal synovial tissues.
Conclusion: IL-7R expression existed both in the normal synovial tissues in the knees and OA synovial tissues, but the latter was lower.