Xiao Di, Hu Jing, Chen Kan, Man Cheng, Zhu Songsong
The State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China College of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
J Craniofac Surg. 2012 Jan;23(1):e55-8. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0b013e3182418d02.
Several studies have proven the ability of NEL-like molecule-1 (Nell-1) to induce chondrogenesis and make it as a potential candidate for articular cartilage repair. In the current study, the chondroprotective effect of Nell-1 on osteoarthritis (OA) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) was investigated by intra-articular injection. Bilateral partial discectomy was performed in 24 rabbits to induce TMJOA. Four weeks later, the right TMJ was treated with Nell-1 as the experimental group, whereas the left was treated with physiologic saline as the control group. Twelve rabbits each time were randomly killed at 12 and 24 weeks after injection, respectively. Histologic observation and metabolic analysis by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were used for evaluation. All TMJs appeared as OA-like histologic changes after intra-articular injection. However, the degree of osteoarthritis in the experimental group was less severe than that in the control group during the experimental time. The expression of type II collagen and aggrecan messenger RNA was significantly higher than the control group at 12 weeks after injection. However, no difference in the expression of aggrecanase or interleukin 1 messenger RNA was observed. The results suggest that intra-articular injection of Nell-1 may be a good alternative for the treatment of cartilage degeneration in OA.
多项研究已证实NEL样分子1（Nell-1）具有诱导软骨形成的能力，使其成为关节软骨修复的潜在候选物。在本研究中，通过关节内注射研究了Nell-1对颞下颌关节（TMJ）骨关节炎（OA）的软骨保护作用。对24只兔子进行双侧部分椎间盘切除术以诱导TMJOA。四周后，右侧TMJ用Nell-1治疗作为实验组，而左侧用生理盐水治疗作为对照组。分别在注射后12周和24周随机处死每组12只兔子。采用组织学观察和逆转录-聚合酶链反应进行代谢分析以进行评估。关节内注射后所有TMJ均出现类似OA的组织学变化。然而，在实验期间，实验组的骨关节炎程度比对照组轻。注射后12周时，II型胶原蛋白和聚集蛋白聚糖信使核糖核酸的表达明显高于对照组。然而，未观察到聚集蛋白聚糖酶或白细胞介素1信使核糖核酸表达的差异。结果表明，关节内注射Nell-1可能是治疗OA软骨退变的良好替代方法。
