title: Association between Wnt inhibitory factor-1 expression levels in articular cartilage and the disease severity of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
abstract: Wnt inhibitory factor (WIF)-1 is a potent extracellular Wnt antagonist which may be used as a potential molecular therapy for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Although previous studies have demonstrated that WIF-1 has a protective role in experimental studies of arthritis, its role in the various disease grades of osteoarthritis (OA) remains unclear. A total of 40 patients with various stages of primary OA of the knee and 10 control subjects were enrolled in the present study. Articular cartilage specimens were harvested from subjects following total knee arthroplasty or knee above amputation. Disease severity was determined according to Modified Mankin score and cartilage tissues were ascribed to four groups: Normal, mild, moderate and severe lesions. WIF-1 expression levels in articular cartilage were measured using immunohistochemical techniques. WIF-1 expression levels were detected in all cartilage tissues. As compared with the controls, patients with OA exhibited significantly decreased WIF-1 expression levels in the articular cartilage (0.19±0.05 vs. 0.26±0.04; P<0.01). Furthermore, articular cartilage WIF-1 expression levels in the moderate and severe lesion groups were significantly reduced, as compared with the controls (P<0.01) and mild lesion group (P<0.05). Subsequent analysis demonstrated that articular cartilage WIF-1 expression levels were negatively correlated with the severity of disease (r=-0.896, P<0.001). In conclusion, the results of the present study suggested that WIF-1 expression levels in articular cartilage may be negatively associated with progressive joint damage in patients with OA of the knee; therefore, WIF-1 expression may be a potential indictor for monitoring OA disease severity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China; Orthopedics Institute of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shu-Guang
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jun-Jie
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fang-Jie
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ding
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yong-Bing
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China; Orthopedics Institute of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guang-Hua
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Lei
keywords: Wnt inhibitory factor-1; articular cartilage; osteoarthritis