title: [Expression of Caspase-8 and Bcl-2 in the cartilage loose bodies in patients with Kashin-Beck disease].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the role of Caspase-8 and Bcl-2 in the formation of loose bodies in Kashin-Beck disease (KBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Specimens of cartilage loose bodies were collected from 50 adult patients with KBD, and the samples of articular cartilage were collected from 10 healthy adults to serve as control. Avidin-biotin alkaline phosphatase immunohistochemistry was employed to examine Bcl-2 and Caspase-8 positivities in the chondrocytes in the loose bodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In KBD loose bodies, the percentage of chondrocytes positive for Bcl-2 and Caspase-8 [(18.40∓8.78)% and (67.54∓12.29)%, respectively] were significantly higher than those of the control group [(12.25∓1.58)% and (24.70∓4.35)%, respectively]. Caspase-8 was found to promote chondrocyte apoptosis in the loose bodies, and this effect overrode the apoptosis-suppressing effect of Bcl-2. Bcl-2 and Caspase-8 positivities were found mainly in the deep hypertrophic chondrocytes in the cartilage or in cells adjacent to the bone tissues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  KBD loose bodies contain an increased percentage of apoptotic chondrocytes positive for Bcl-2 and Caspase-8. The apoptosis-inducing effect of Caspase-8 was a dominant feature in the cartilage pathology of KBD compared to the apoptosis-suppressing effect of Bcl-2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an 710061, China. wy0625rainbow@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Zeng-tie
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shi-jie
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017209:Apoptosis; D002356:Cartilage / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D053181:Caspase 8 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007594:Joint Loose Bodies / Q000378:metabolism*; D057767:Kashin-Beck Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; C505530:CASP8 protein, human; D053181:Caspase 8