title: Type II collagen fragment HELIX-II is a marker for early cartilage lesions but does not predict the progression of cartilage destruction in human knee joint synovial fluid.
abstract: To determine whether there is a direct correlation between the concentration of type II collagen fragment HELIX-II in synovial fluid and the severity of cartilage damage at the knee joint, 83 patients who had undergone knee arthroscopy or total knee replacement were enrolled in this study (49% women, mean ± SD age 49.5 ± 19). The content of HELIX-II in the synovial fluid samples was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cartilage damage at the knee joint was classified during arthroscopy or direct surgical observation, using the Outerbridge cartilage damage scoring system. The maximum damage score was defined as the highest score among the six areas of the knee joint, and the cumulative score was defined as the sum of the scores of the six areas of the knee joint. The intra-assay and inter-assay variations of the HELIX-II ELISA were lower than 13 and 15%, respectively. The level of HELIX-II in the severely damaged cartilage groups (cumulative scores = 11-24 or maximum score = 2-4) was much higher than in the slightly damaged cartilage groups (cumulative scores = 0-10 or maximum score = 0-1). The level of HELIX-II in cartilage from severely damaged cartilage groups was significantly higher than in the slightly damaged groups, but no significant difference was detected in the level of HELIX-II among the severely damaged cartilage sub-groups. There was a significant correlation between the HELIX-II concentration in the synovial fluid and the cumulative (r = 0.807) and maximum scores (r = 0.794). Thus, elevated HELIX-II level is correlated with early cartilage lesions, but does not have the sensitivity to predict the progression of severity of cartilage damage in the knee joint.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, 382 Wuyi Road, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi, People's Republic of China. weixiaochun08@126.com
authors.forename: Xiaochun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Pengcui
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Wangping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D001182:Arthroscopy; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D024043:Collagen Type II / Q000032:analysis*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000601:surgery; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000032:analysis*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D024043:Collagen Type II; D010446:Peptide Fragments