Abstract
AbstractEarly diagnosis of articular cartilage damage and repeated evaluation of treatment efficacy are essential for osteoarthritis treatment. In this study, we established a simple ultrasound grading system for early degenerative articular cartilage and investigated its relationship with cartilage biological characteristics. The ultrasound grading system were based on surface integrity (S1a: continuous high-echo lines, S1b: discontinuous or weak high-echo lines, S2: surface irregular) and cartilage echogenicity (E1: with > 50%, E2: < 50% hypoechoic area of total cartilage layer) and verified by surface roughness (Ra; μm) and histological staining. Ra was lower in S1 than in S2, and the percentage of hypoechoic and safranin O-stained areas was positively correlated. Then we examined its relationship with histopathological evaluation (OARSI grade), gene expression, and protein production in responded to pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-1ß) stimulation. OARSI grades were different among S grades. The superficial layer of S1 had higher expression of Collagen10, aggrecan, Sox9, and lower expression of Collagen1 and BMP2 than that of S2. S1 responded more pronouncedly to IL-1ß in IL-6, IL-8, and CCL2 production than S2. There was no difference among the E-grades. Taken together, our findings indicate that ultrasound assessment using surface integrity can reflect the biological characteristics of early degenerative articular cartilage.
Funder
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development: AMED
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC